PanHellas

Images from Kefalonia

2006-01-27T15:09:00.000+02:00

Ithaki, from Poros beach

Aenos foothills, from Tzanata

Snowy mountain scene, from Valerianos

Telegraph pole snapped off, Valerianos

Telegraph pole blown over, Valerianos

Crumpled pylon, between Valerianos and Platies

View towards Poros, from Agios Gorgios (Pastra)

Lemon tree, cactus, snow

Deserted village in the snow

News and views (power supplies permitting) in the ELSOKAI Forums

News from Kefalonia

2006-01-26T19:08:00.000+02:00

Latest news re situation on Kefalonia at the ELSOKAI Forums in the Local News: Kef - power down

Turkey moves forward, UK moves abroad

2006-01-23T15:25:00.000+02:00

The UK government is to follow banks, airlines and phone companies by exporting British jobs abroad. Staff currently giving information to the unemployed will presumably be able to get the latest advice on how to claim unemployment benefits by phoning India, where wages are about 20% of those paid in the UK. Ah, that must be international socialism at work?

Turkey, at least, has shown common sense by dropping charges of ‘insulting Turkey’ against Orhan Pamuk and by re-arresting the man who shot Pope John Paul II. Mehmet Ali Agca, a known criminal with links to Turkish far-right paramilitary groups, had been released early while serving a sentence for murdering a left-wing journalist.

Henceforth, Greece will have a national day of remembrance for victims of terrorism.

And despite notices on the cars stating their status, specialist volunteers who worked to save the whale stranded in the Thames returned to their cars to find parking tickets on them. Nice one, huh?

News and views in the ELSOKAI Forums

Artic weather here

2006-01-22T16:57:00.000+02:00

Picture from the
Whale & Dolphin Trust

Extreme weather conditions, with fierce storms, heavy snowfall, northerly gales and a big drop in temperature, looks to be sent in for the next three days.

The real estate market looks set to continue attracting consumers as the growth prospects in the real estate market are favourable, with demand expected to continue increasing in the next five years.

In the UK, record levels of gun crime are being blamed on the fact that more people than ever are carrying firearms as fashion accessories.

At the same time, it’s been revealed that the police spend more than £500 million a year on paperwork - a sum greater than that spent fighting robberies and house burglaries.

There’s an interesting article in a non-political American blog headed, “The UK is heading toward a police state”. HEY – it’s not just me!

And the bottlenose whale which captivated the world as it swam up the Thames has died before it could be released back in to the ocean.

News and views in the ELSOKAI Forums

Cool running

2006-01-20T20:53:00.000+02:00

A survey released on Sunday shows that almost 40% of Greeks would prefer closer ties with China rather than with the US, while 66% of those surveyed replied that they like the Chinese.

A strategic agreement signed between Greece and China yesterday is aimed at bringing the two nations closer together. 60,000 tons of Greek fertilizer will be exported to China and Greece will be promoted as a transport hub for Chinese vessels shipping products to Southeast Europe.

So, is Greece going to export sh*t and import… dodgy Chinese electrical goods?

Poultry sales have plummeted by up to 40 percent recently as fears that bird flu will enter Greece from Turkey have driven consumers to opt for other meat on their dinner table, despite continued reassurances from authorities that eating (Greek) chicken and eggs is completely safe.

A seven-tonne whale has made its way up the Thames to central London.

A Jamaican sled-dog racer has arrived in Aviemore, Scotland, to enter Europe's largest husky racing event.

And a farmer in Wiltshire, UK, has received a speeding ticket for driving at 85mph… on his tractor.

Pictures from Kefalonia
News & views in the ELSOKAI Forums

Ho hum, fiddle-di-di

2006-01-19T16:43:00.000+02:00

Former judge Constantina Bourboulia, who had been on the run from authorities for the last four months, was arrested in Paris yesterday. Bourboulia is alleged to have taken a €350,000 bribe from a lawyer in return for not remanding his client, a corrupt stockbroker, in custody.

The Greek government has recently bought a number of US-made Hummer vehicles for the army at a cost of €195,000 per vehicle, almost double the price in the USA. The Defence Minister said the vehicles bought by Greece had different specifications from the ones usually available on the market.

62% of Greeks have economic difficulties with more than half unable to pay for a week’s holiday every year. One in five Greeks cannot afford to adequately heat their homes. For the first time more companies are closing down than opening. 30,000 small and middle-sized firms are facing bankruptcy, partly because people have no money to spend and partly because of newly-arrived big trade centres.

UK supermarket giant, Tesco, may be expanding in to Greece.

State inspectors yesterday issued a report slamming the levels of hygiene at the historic Varvakeios Market in central Athens and partly-thawed frozen food was seized and destroyed in Thessaloniki.

A large proportion of Greek factories have not been built to withstand the pressure of an earthquake and many offices lack basic safety features, seismic experts revealed yesterday.

More news and views in the ELSOKAI Forums

Greed, corruption, & food

2006-01-18T14:30:00.000+02:00

Incidents of dishonesty by food merchants, who up until recently were trusted by consumers, are on the daily agenda. Television coverage of a filthy storeroom behind a butcher’s stall at Athens’s central meat market, aired on Star channel’s Saturday news bulletin, was hair-raising stuff.

Viewers were shown a trapdoor leading to an underground catacomb containing darkened cuts of meat, wild pig heads on shelves and cockroaches scuttling along the floor — an ideal backdrop for a horror movie.

The recent wave of horrifying reports about unsuitable food products making their way onto the local market is due to increasing profiteering at the expense of public health.

Some say the stricter and more regular controls are a public relations exercise ahead of local elections in October. Although there is certainly some truth in that, criticism does not change the essence of the problem but merely underscores the vital need to disengage the system of food inspections from petty politicking.

And once again, checks at supermarket chains have revealed that the prices charged at the checkout are higher than the prices marked on the shelves.

About a year after building work started on new homes near the Hellenic Petroleum (HELPE) oil distillery at Thessaloniki a court has ruled that the buildings fail to comply with relevant laws.

Police and the anti-terrorism squad are continuing investigations into an Athens bank robbery on Monday that resulted in gun shot injuries to three people. The gang were very heavily armed and a connection with terrorism is strongly suspected.

And a new website has been launched that maps more than 25,000 surnames across Britain. Anyone can tap in their name and with the click of a mouse glimpse a profile of how others who share their name are distributed around the country.

News and views at the ELSOKAI Forums

Crime on the rise in Greece

2006-01-17T12:12:00.000+02:00

New crime data released yesterday by the Public Order Ministry confirmed that crime in Greece is on the rise. The number of murders across the country shot up in 2005 from the previous year, as did incidents involving fraud.

Health Minister Nikitas Kaklamanis yesterday urged citizens not to travel to neighboring Turkey unless necessary after Turkish authorities confirmed their fourth bird flu victim, but he added that Greece has been advised not to close its borders for now.

Greece’s worst ferry accident, the Express Samina disaster off Paros in 2000, was caused by an under-qualified captain and a poorly trained crew who were indifferent to their duties, a court heard yesterday.

A recent opinion poll suggests that 75% of the people support a separation of the Church from the State.

More news, and comments welcome, in the ELSOKAI Forums

The da Vinci Code

2006-01-16T13:22:00.000+02:00

“There are the people on one hand, and on the other there are some people at the reins of the organization that we don’t know; it’s as if they’re hidden. I have a feeling that the whole event has almost been hushed up. There is still hope, though, that a fresh wind will blow.”

More Pakistanis kidnapped?

Changes at the Greek National Intelligence Agency?

No – it’s Patras, European Cultural Capital for 2006!

Deputy Culture Minister Petros Tatoulis inaugurated an exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings in Patras yesterday, launching a year of cultural events in the city which holds the title of European Cultural Capital for 2006.

Despite bird flu running rampant, and a suspected fourth death, Turkey has declined an offer of Greek aid.

And does the launch of ASPIDA, a new political party, signify the rise of the Roma empire?

Comments welcome in the ELSOKAI Forums

So why are you in Greece?

2006-01-14T04:19:00.000+02:00

A short time ago EllasDevil posted this question at ELSOKAI:
"So why are you in Greece?". I came up with the usual answer:
the sun, the sand, the sea, the relaxed way of life on a Greek island.

Reading through the press recently has reminded me of other reasons:

The Muslim cleric Abu Hamza preached that killing non-Muslims was justified. Guardian Hamza was heard calling for the "blood and destruction" of non-believers and describing Britain as a country "like the inside of a toilet". Telegraph

I am no fan of this bigoted, bloodthirsty racist leech. However, I’ve often heard ethnic Brits declare that Britain is going down the toilet.

Peter Wareing was beaten unconscious in an unprovoked attack and left in a coma. He was placed on a life support machine and his wife was told that he might not survive. He has been left with some permanent disability and had to give up his career as a barrister. Telegraph

A teenager punched a father-of-four in the face so hard that it left him fighting for his life. Phill Carroll confronted youths who threw a stone at his car. The punch knocked Mr Carroll to the ground, causing him to hit his head and a blood clot to form on his brain. He was in a coma for 18 days and needed three operations on his skull, one of which removed part of his brain. Mr Carroll still suffers from memory loss and mood swings and is unable to resume work as an engineer. Telegraph

Mr Waring’s attackers are to be imprisoned for 18 months. Mr Carroll’s attacker for 12 months.

Now consider this: A posse of police officers arrested a student and charged him under Section 5 of the Public Order Act for making homophobic remarks… about a police horse.

Photo from RollOnFriday

So, I quite like living in a country concerned about the return of a 2,400-year-old marble heel. BBC

Not that I’m claiming it’s perfect. For example:

In an opinion poll for Skai Radio, reported in Kathimerini, 32% of respondents thought the Albanian community was at least partly to blame for the murder of a 17-year-old Albanian in Crete, on New Year’s Day. OK, I don’t have a problem with that as such, as I’ve seen part of the local Albanian community act provocatively when Albania beat Greece at football – which resulted in an Albanian being killed on Zakynthos. However, I do have a problem accepting that anything in any way justified these murders. 44% of the 949 people questioned agree with that. Uh… guys… what about the other 56%?

Over the past six months or so we’ve repeatedly been told that Greeks are anti-immigrant, so I was surprised that 53 percent believe the Pakistanis were kidnapped and questioned. OK, so are they happy with that?

Meanwhile, a substantial number of Greeks do not seem to trust the official explanation about the death of a Russian prisoner, Maxim Zhilim, this month. Zhilim (allegedly?) shot and killed two police officers while being transferred to prison but was found dead three days later. 20% do not believe that Zhilim committed suicide but thought that police officers killed him. Just over half of those polled accepted that Zhilim shot himself. I wonder how many of those 20% think it would be a good thing if ‘the police’ had shot him? I’m just glad that he didn’t get the chance to kill anyone else. And if ‘the police’ did kill him, well, some proof would be nice.

It seems the government are struggling to communicate its views on these issues – well, communications are a problem out here.

Elsewhere in ELSOKAI:

Would you go home for €4,500? Thousands of asylum seekers are to be offered millions of pounds in cash to return to their home countries under a scheme announced by the UK Home Office.

The Gospel according to Judas: Was Judas acting at the behest of God when he sold Jesus to the Romans for 30 pieces of silver?

Comments welcome in the ELSOKAI Forums

Dying to be in Greece?

2006-01-12T22:28:00.000+02:00

Welcome to Greece, the last sanctuary for smokers in a European Union at war with nicotine. But is Greece at war with the cigarette?

Despite laws passed three years ago outlawing smoking in public places, and designating special areas for restaurants and cafes, pharmacists and doctors sneak a drag on the job, elderly matrons savor cigarillos in pastry shops, and taxi drivers light up with the windows sealed tight, passengers be damned.

Papastratos Cigarette Company S.A, member of Philip Morris International, announced on Tuesday a 100-million-euro investment for the construction of a new, modern factory at Aspropyrgos, Attica. It is the largest foreign investment ever made in Greece and the Development Minister, Dimitris Sioufas, congratulated the company on its decision. Smoking: a way of life

Well, we all know the perils of smoking, but death is the only certainty in life. Never a laughing matter in Greece, death is even more grave for the country's non-Orthodox communities, whose shortage of sanctioned burial grounds has long been compounded by legal restrictions and official apathy by the Greek state. Dying to be in Greece?

To help promote the re-population of the Orthodox faithful, the Church of Greece is preparing to establish a Marriage Institute and training programs for couples about to be married Marriage training by the Church

Comments welcome in the ELSOKAI Forums

Lay back and think of England...

2006-01-11T06:40:00.000+02:00

What do you see? Red phone boxes? The British ‘bobby’? Fish ‘n’ chips?

So, what represents England to you? icons.org.uk are inviting people to vote for their favourite ‘icons’ of England, be it St. George, the Notting Hill Carnival or real ale. You can see the most popular icons so far, and vote yourself, here: Icons of England. You can test your knowledge in this fun Icons quiz

Don’t even think about nominating the 'Elgin' marbles - Greece has announced that a German university intend to return a piece of the Parthenon, increasing pressure on the British Museum to do the same with the Parthenon marbles.

And if you missed voting for the 'new' Seven Wonders of the World, here’s the link: n7w.com

Officials in Turkey admitted yesterday that the deadly strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus was marching across the country and had infected poultry in 25 cities. The Turkish tourist industry is increasingly worried, especially as the UK has advised people not to visit areas affected by the outbreak, now including the popular resort of Kusadasi – just across the water from Samos. It seems one of the victims, a young girl, caught bird flu after kissing her pet chicken. Bird flu fears

And here’s a rather odd tale about 15 Cubans who had fled their homeland to make a new life in America. Fortunately, they landed on a bridge in the Florida Keys just as their leaky vessel began to sink, but the Department of Homeland Security sent them back to face the wrath of Castro’s Communist regime — under US laws, fleeing Cubans who manage to reach dry land are allowed to stay in the country, while those intercepted at sea must return to their homeland. The department claims that the bridge did not qualify as terra firma… because the bit they landed on was broken away from the bit connected to dry land… A bridge too far

In the pc section, news that Microsoft has released two patches for Windows, rated ‘Critical’.

More news in the ELSOKAI Forums

No imminent threat

2006-01-10T17:33:00.000+02:00

While Greece faces no imminent threat from bird flu, state services remain on standby, especially at border entry points. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, no evidence has been found suggesting Turkey has been negligent in controlling the spread of the bird flu virus. However, Turkey's health minister had to be protected by police as he was besieged on a visit to the town where two children have died from bird flu and fears are growing that the deadly disease could migrate westward to Greece and the rest of Europe. Britain's leading medical scientist urged people not to visit the parts of Turkey affected by bird flu – which now includes the popular resort town of Kusadasi.

Seismologists reassured the public yesterday that the powerful earthquake which rocked Greece on Sunday was not the precursor for an even bigger quake.

A Greek-Russian cosmonaut said yesterday that he is willing to help train a Greek to go into space.

More news in the ELSOKAI Forums

You gonna wear that, or smoke it?

2006-01-09T20:25:00.000+02:00

A UK charity is to sue the Albanian government for loss of revenue after the Albanian Interior Minister announced a "major drugs haul" – legitimate industrial hemp for the textile industry.

More news in the ELSOKAI Forums

Currying favour

2006-01-09T13:06:00.000+02:00

Thank heaven for corrupt judges – without them the Greek media would struggle to fill their news reports. Although it does seem that the judiciary gives them plenty to report on. According to the head of the Athens Bar Association, the ongoing investigation into corruption within the judiciary has only skimmed the surface.

And if it isn’t the judges then politicians and police are a good bet, especially when the two can be combined: Public Order Minister, Giorgos Voulgarakis, has denied a press report claiming that he had been informed of problems regarding prison transfers prior to the murder of two police officers.

In the UK the neighbourhood curry house and Chinese takeaway risk being replaced by souvlaki shops as an unexpected consequence of Britain’s new immigration policy. It seems that there are not enough ethnic Asians and Chinese in the UK who want to work in corner-shop catering and they are being told to recruit East Europeans. Interesting dilemma – if Asian and Chinese caterers insist on Asian and Chinese cooks and waiters, are they being racist? If you go out for a curry or a Chinese, would you regard it as authentic if it was cooked by a Croat and served by a Serb?

More in the ELSOKAI Forums

6.9 quake shakes Greece & Med

2006-01-08T22:00:00.000+02:00

A very strong earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale rocked Greece at 13:34. The epicentre was located in the sea, between the islands of Kythira and Crete.

Two children and an adult have tested positive for the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain in Turkey's capital Ankara, the city's governor Kemal Onal has said. In the eastern region of Van, three children from the same family died last week, at least two of them from the virulent H5N1 bird flu strain

More details in the ELSOKAI Forums

Theophany Cross tragedy

2006-01-07T18:19:00.000+02:00

A 19-year-old youth died yesterday while trying to retrieve a cross thrown into a frigid lake during a traditional Epiphany ceremony in a village in central Greece.

State services are fully prepared to tackle a possible outbreak of bird flu in Greece, the Hellenic Center for Disease Prevention and Control (KEELPNO) has said following reports that three children in Turkey have died from the deadly strain of the virus.

The social security system's financing needs threaten to overwhelm the Greek economy after 2010 if reforms are not urgently implemented, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warns.

Tomato growers are dumping crops after prices fell to as little as €0.50 a kilo on street markets.

And a minor quake shook Kefalonia this morning.

More details in the ELSOKAI Forums

The technology is here... is the will?

2006-01-06T22:00:00.000+02:00

New photovoltaic technology will mean that no local community needs to be without reliable, economic street lighting, with the added benefit of wi-fi technology outside their front doors. New lampposts will use light-emitting diode (LED) technology to provide bright light using low power derived from solar cells, which use daylight to recharge even in overcast weather. The idea will combine lampposts with solar energy and wi-fi wireless internet access.

And the severity of a recently discovered .WMF bug in Windows files has made Microsoft release a patch for the loophole early.

More news in the ELSOKAI Forums

The Feast of Theophany

2006-01-06T00:49:00.000+02:00

The Feast of Theophany in the Orthodox Church on January 6 celebrates Jesus' baptism in the river Jordan, at which time both Jesus' divinity and the Trinity was made manifest by the appearance of Jesus, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, while the audible voice of the Father was heard.

Orthodox Churches perform a "Blessing of the Waters" on Epiphany: following Divine Liturgy, clerics proceed to the nearest body of water, be it a beach, a harbor, a quay, a river, a lake, a swimming pool, a water depot etc, and after a short ceremony they cast a cross in the water. If swimming is feasible on the spot, any number of volunteers may brave the cold winter waters and try to recover the cross. The person who gets the cross first swims back and returns it to the cleric, who then delivers a special blessing to the swimmer and their family and household.

For Churches which still follow the Julian Calendar, today is Christmas Day.

It is also known as Women's Christmas (Nollaig na mBan) in Ireland because of the tradition (still strong in Cork, though only just surviving in the rest of the country) of Irish men taking on all the household duties on that day and giving their spouses a day off.

Moving swiftly on, it is also the celebration of the ceremonial birthday of Haile Selassie, religious symbol of God incarnate for Rastafarians, although he was a devout Ethiopian Orthodox Christian his entire life.

And while I have a lot of respect for the Greek Orthodox Church, I’m not really into (any one particular) religion, so if I’ve got anything wrong here feel free to correct me via the Guest Spot at ELSOKAI

Too many hours

2006-01-05T19:48:00.000+02:00

An insurance company which insures some 89,000 cars in Greece was closed down yesterday by the government on the grounds that it had been falling behind on its legal obligations.

The suspicions of Greeks who feel they spend too much time working were confirmed when EU statistics made public yesterday suggested that employees here work on average 4.5 hours more every week than their EU counterparts.

A plan that proposes a drastic change in the way primary healthcare works in Greece and calls for the appointment of 4,000 more doctors was given the government’s backing yesterday but left the opposition wondering where the money to pay for it will come from.

Greek Police Chief, Giorgos Angelakos, yesterday urged regional police heads to ensure the force's regulations are strictly adhered to in the wake of widespread criticism following the killing of two officers during a prison transfer last week.

A group of about 100 Albanian youths staged a demonstration yesterday outside the Greek Embassy in Tirana in protest at the murder of a 17-year-old Albanian on Crete.

A British climber missing while scaling Mount Olympus turned up safe and sound yesterday in Litohoro.

In the World News:

Taliban militants beheaded a headmaster in southern Afghanistan for teaching girls. The killers forced his wife and children to watch the murder.

In the UK, a mother described hearing her son shot dead after he refused to convert to Islam.

The British are more tolerant and positive about immigrants and their cultures than many other Europeans, according to new research.

One in five of all births in England and Wales - and one in two in London - is to foreign-born mothers, partly due to arranged marriages.

And 66% of singles looking for love in Britain turned to the internet last year.

In ‘Life in Greece’ (registered users):

An amusing account of travelling by bus.

In the pc section:

The next variant of the Sober worm is set to attack computers at the stroke of midnight GMT as Jan. 5 turns into Jan. 6. And more news on the .WMF threat which could overwhelm pc’s.

More details in the ELSOKAI Forums

Wonder of the World

2006-01-04T17:47:00.000+02:00

The most prominent symbol of ancient Greece, the Acropolis in Athens, and the former landmark of Christian Orthodoxy, Hagia Sophia church in Istanbul, are among 21 sites competing to be named among the new seven wonders of the world.

Three Pakistanis who claim they were abducted by secret agents and interrogated about terrorist attacks in London yesterday repeated their claims that they had been beaten and threatened by Greek police and British security forces.

An illegal immigrant drowned when the boat transporting him and 19 other illegals sank close to Lesvos yesterday.

A prosecutor in Rethymnon, Crete, yesterday charged six Greek men and a Bulgarian woman with the murder of an Albanian youth on New year’s Eve.

Greece had the third-highest rate of road deaths per million inhabitants in Europe in 2004, according to European Commission figures.

And the world must wander what the Automobile Association in the UK is playing at. It refused to help the family of a member who died at the wheel of his car. The AA insisted that his death terminated his membership and that another member of the family would have to pay to join.

Microsoft hopes to have a patch ready next week to fix the most recent flaw found in its Windows program - a flaw that could leave computers vulnerable to a virus.

More in the ELSOKAI Forums

Greece has a bright future - EU

2006-01-03T19:18:00.000+02:00

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso cited Greece, in a statement made public yesterday, as an example of the benefits of EU expansion. On the 25th anniversary of the Greece joining the EC, Mr Barroso said, “The accession of Greece…made Europe bigger and stronger. If they continue to progress over the next years as they have over the last decades, then they — and Europe as a whole — can look forward to a very bright future indeed.”

Police in Rethymnon, Crete, were yesterday bracing for a possible outbreak of interethnic tension following the fatal stabbing of an Albanian youth by a group of Greeks on New Year’s Day.

The head of the Supreme Court prosecutor's office has ordered a preliminary investigation into the death of an escaped Russian murderer.

The Greek Consumer Organization EKATO warned parents yesterday about their children looking for Santa Claus on the Internet on websites that feature Father Christmas but also call for personal details, such as credit card numbers. Ekato said that parents should supervise children surfing the Net, especially if they are under the age of 12, as there have also been occasions where paedophiles set up such sites to lure victims.

Spain is planning to give refugee status to those fleeing persecution on grounds of gender or sexual orientation in a revision of its asylum laws. And it seems the UK has an – unofficial – variation on this theme:

Following on from yesterday’s post regarding a call for zero tolerance towards foreigners who commit criminal acts in the UK, claims today that the immigration service does not check passports to see if immigrants are ‘wanted’ abroad – because immigration staff are too lazy.

The claim is in an article alleging a ‘sex for visas’ racket at the UK’s main immigration centre: “A pretty girl would only have to smile, bend over the desk and she'd get a visa. Officers said about ugly girls: She's bloody disgusting - let's send her back."

Just before we celebrated Agios Vassilis, Archbishop Christodoulos warned that ‘enemies of the state’ are trying to "de-Christianise" Greece. Maybe it isn’t just Greece - an Italian judge has ordered a priest to appear in court this month to prove that Jesus Christ existed.

For most people, one of the places where we learn about religion is in school – but should schools be scrapped? Here’s an extract from an article I’ve posted at ELSOKAI: Schools are structured today in much the same way as they have been for hundreds of years. Schools should simply cease to exist as we know them. We need to stop producing a nation of stressed-out students who learn how to please the teacher instead of pleasing themselves. We need to produce adults who love learning, not adults who avoid all learning because it reminds them of the horrors of school. We need to stop thinking that all children need to learn the same stuff. We need to create adults who can think for themselves.

Well, I can imagine what Archbishop Christodoulos would make of a woman ‘marrying’ a dolphin, I wonder what Spain will make of the idea? Or the UK immigration staff? And how about this - news of a new internet-dating website in Greece – for animals.

More in the ELSOKAI Forums

Hm, wonder if the EU has a bright future?

What madness is this?

2006-01-02T18:51:00.000+02:00

The old year ended on a sad note as a fight on New Year’s Eve between Greek and Albanian youths on Crete ended tragically when an 18-year-old Greek stabbed a 17-year-old Albanian to death.

The New Year has, perhaps, started better. The Russian fugitive wanted for killing three people, including two police officers, was found dead on Monday morning, having apparently commit suicide. At least no-one else has been killed.

Serious criminal behaviour by foreign nationals in the UK should be met with zero tolerance, according to MigrationWatch.

And in the UK, the Post Office's 350-year-old monopoly on carrying letters ended yesterday with its competitors now able to collect, sort and deliver post for the first time since the reign of Charles II.

In the Weird, Wild & Wacky section: In Israel, a 41 year old British woman has wed her 31 year old ‘toy dolphin’. Yup, dolphin. According to Sharon Tendler, a millionaire rock concert producer, it is true love and she is not a pervert. Yeah, well, who’d want to shag a dolphin? Just try a Google search for ‘sex with dolphins’…

More details on all these stories in the ELSOKAI Forums

Agios Vassilis Day - Have a great 2006

2006-01-01T00:42:00.000+02:00

Today we commemorate Agios Vassilis (St. Basil), the day when Greeks traditionally exchange their season's gifts. According to Greek customs and carols, it is this Greek Orthodox holy martyr who has the gift-giving task - not St Nicholas. In older days, families would place a large log in the fireplace for Agios Vassilis to step on as he slipped down the chimney with a bag of toys.

Kalh Cronia

Enemies of the state

2005-12-31T13:41:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-30T21:20:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-29T15:17:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-28T14:43:00.000+02:00

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?

2005-12-27T19:22:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-25T07:45:00.000+02:00

Peace on Earth

Goodwill to All

The ghosts of Christmas present

2005-12-24T12:51:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-23T16:56:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-22T13:10:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-21T17:59:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-20T21:11:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-20T19:18:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-19T16:37:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-18T15:13:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-17T17:29:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-16T18:56:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-15T18:00:00.000+02:00

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?

2005-12-15T15:29:00.000+02:00

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'

2005-12-14T13:40:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-14T09:21:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-12T16:33:00.000+02:00

“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

2005-12-12T04:47:00.000+02:00

(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

2005-12-12T03:42:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-11T12:59:00.000+02:00

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

But is it? Have a look in the ELSOKAI Forums

Another wasted opportunity

2005-12-10T15:50:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-09T15:31:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-08T21:12:00.000+02:00

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?

2005-12-08T08:41:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-06T11:59:00.000+02:00

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?

2005-12-06T09:42:00.000+02:00

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!

2005-12-05T14:21:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-05T11:43:00.000+02:00

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?

2005-12-05T05:30:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-03T07:23:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-03T02:44:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-02T11:15:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-01T21:25:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-01T11:20:00.000+02:00

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

2005-12-01T09:47:00.000+02:00

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

Athina Onassis to wed

2005-11-30T20:39:00.000+02:00

Athina Roussel Onassis is set to wed Alvaro Affonso de Miranda in a lavish wedding in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Civil servants employed at state-owned companies will no longer enjoy job-for-life status.

Ministers announced Internet price cuts of 50% for 600,000 students and that Greece will host the 2006 World Conference in Computer Science.

Police in Athens arrested a 57-year-old man who made at least €25,500 euros a month from running two child pornography websites

More in the ELSOKAI Forums

'Unity' on terrorism & illegal immigration

2005-11-29T20:29:00.000+02:00

An agreement reached in Barcelona yesterday between European Union member states and Mediterranean-rim countries on key issues such as immigration and terrorism was hailed as being of ‘special significance’ for Greece by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. European countries and their Muslim neighbours vowed to unite in the fight against terrorism yesterday, but only after papering over a deep disagreement about who is a terrorist and who is a freedom fighter.

A joint Israeli-Palestinian football team has arrived in Spain for a match on Tuesday against Spanish champions Barcelona aimed at promoting peace.

The modern era of capital punishment reaches a macabre milestone tomorrow with America's 1,000th execution since it reintroduced the death penalty in the 1970s. Over the past 28 years the United States has, on average, executed one person every 10 days.

Firefox 1.5 is due to be available for download from today.

More in the ELSOKAI Forums

UK sex-slave gang broken

2005-11-28T19:10:00.000+02:00

Five Albanian pimps have been convicted of sex trafficking offences in the UK. Teenage girls lured from abroad were forced to sleep with as many as 10 men a day, earning the pimps around £800 a day - of which they received nothing.

One of the brothels alone took between £3,000 and £18,000 a day. The gang were making huge profits and several of them drove around in new Mercedes cars.

The girls – at least one a virgin - were cowed into submission by threats and by their predicament - strangers in a foreign country, without their passports, unable to speak the language, understand their rights or even be sure where they were.

In the ELSOKAI Forums

Vested interests and naked profiteering

2005-11-28T17:49:00.000+02:00

While a lot of attention recently has been focused upon problems perceived to be caused by immigration, some news articles today tackle how vested interests and naked profiteering are blighting Greece.

And three large insurance companies seem financially insecure after they didn’t pay compensation to their insured.

As usual, more on these stories in the ELSOKAI Forums

Respecting European values

2005-11-28T05:55:00.000+02:00

"If Turkey indeed wants to approach the Union, it should respect European principles and values. Human rights will be respected and European principles and values will be enforced." Karamanlis.

The family and friends of an 18-year-old girl, doused with petrol and set alight in broad daylight by the man she refused to marry, led a silent march through a Parisian suburb yesterday.

And in the UK, husbands who kill their wives in a fit of jealous rage will face tougher jail terms under new sentencing guidelines to be issued by the Lord Chief Justice.

A graphic film, apparently of an initiation ceremony of Commando recruits, is at the heart of a full-scale criminal inquiry by the Royal Military Police Special Investigations Branch.

Over in the States a hoaxer has been calling dozens of fast food restaurants over the last decade pretending to be a police officer/area manager/whatever. He would tell the store manager that a particular employee/customer had committed an offence and instruct the manager to strip search the accused. Amazingly, the managers obeyed the instructions.

When I read that I thought it was rather wacky. When I read the article it was based on I found it a little disturbing. I’ve posted it in the
Weird, Wild & Wacky section so you can have a look and post your views.

And if you’re using a Sygate or Kerio firewall, check out the pc section.

There's more on all these items at the ELSOKAI Forums

The European sex-slave trade

2005-11-27T19:48:00.000+02:00

Young women from across Eastern Europe are being imprisoned in secret underground bunkers in FYROM before being trafficked to Britain as sex slaves.

But is Britain becoming a nation of frantic masturbators? More vibrators are sold every year in Britain than washing machines and tumble dryers combined and vibrating penis rings are now on sale in supermarkets and high street chain stores. Definitely one for Weird, Wild & Wacky.

More on these stories at the ELSOKAI Forums

Chain emails & 'virus warnings'

2005-11-27T05:55:00.000+02:00

Just recently I’ve been emailed a couple of chain letters and a virus warning. I’m a bit sceptical of these things, at best. At worst, I wonder what sort of crap they might be carrying – anything that says ‘pass me on’ gets me worried!

One of the chain letters was for a school project, the other a petition against drinking and driving.

Luckily, I’d read about a website that debunks the junk: BreakTheChain.org

Worth a look, if just for a bit of light amusement.

Generally, I don’t bother passing on virus warnings, especially by email – new ‘viruses’, or variations thereof, tend to ‘break out’ about every hour or so. If there’s a really nasty one about (as there is at the moment), I’ll post about it at ELSOKAI and mention it here, but that’s about it. Basically, I keep my OS and anti-malware programs regularly updated, am careful opening emails, check out those ‘great little free programs’ before I download them and have a HOSTS file – so I should be reasonably safe on the net (I hope!)

Anyway, as I’d heard about a site that debunks urban myths, I checked out the ‘virus warning’: (a) it was a hoax and (b) it had been circulating for four years! So, by the time it arrived it was well out of date, anyway.

Genuine virus warnings are often posted at sites such as CARMA. You can usually find the hoax virus warnings listed here at Snopes.com. Again, worth a look, if only for amusement.

Immigration = crime ?

2005-11-26T21:27:00.000+02:00

Intolerance and the confusion of problems such as crime, unemployment and other social ills associated with immigration are the two main challenges facing the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Greece.

Immigration and organized crime go hand in hand, according to a study by Britain's National Criminal Intelligence Service.

A forgery ring involving at least one doctor and a lawyer has issued 1,800 fake health certificates to immigrants this month alone.

Greece has become a significant drug-trafficking hub as seizures of some drugs increased by almost 500 percent last year, according to the police drugs squad.

A tragic gun accident on Crete left a 16 year old boy dead, shot by his younger brother.

SOME 38 Greek Air Force personnel left Athens for Afghanistan, where they will run Kabul airport.

And Florianópolis is the hottest beach resort. So why haven't we heard of it?

All in the ELSOKAI Forums – everyone is welcome to register and post (or you can post in the Guest Spot).

Tax exemption for first-time buyers

2005-11-26T02:18:00.000+02:00

On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Greek Justice Minister, Anastasios Papaligouras, presented the new bill on combating domestic violence in Greece.

Tax exemption for first-time buyers has been approved, w.e.f. 01/01/06

Another brand of children’s milk has been recalled from the Italian market.

And Turkey has experienced a 9/11 –type security crisis.

More in the ELSOKAI Forums – feel free to add a comment or post a new item.

Is the Parthenon subsiding?

2005-11-25T18:12:00.000+02:00

The severe weather around Greece has brought newspaper reports that the foundations of the Parthenon are under threat of subsiding, and a woman drowned in Gytheio on Thursday night after a dried-up stream overflowed, sweeping her away in her car.

Orthodox monks traded blows yesterday in the Mount Athos monastic community in northern Greece as a bitter fight between church authorities and a rebel monastery turned violent.

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. At least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime — with the abuser usually someone known to her.

The French Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin, has dismissed claims by some of his party colleagues that rap music fuelled suburban rioting in France.

Former football star George Best has died in hospital at the age of 59. Bertie Ahern said, "He was quite simply a football genius."

And a Royal Navy parrot with a reputation for embarrassing top brass with her salty language has been ordered ashore.

More news in the ELSOKAI Forums

'Music inspired riots, racism and murder'

2005-11-24T21:46:00.000+02:00

A French MP has publicly accused rappers of inciting riots and racism with their songs.

‘Death metal’ has been linked to one of the most shocking crimes in post-war Italy - a tale of Satanism and violence that has gripped the country for more than a year.

And Elton John says he will marry next month.

More in the ELSOKAI Forums

Migrants contribute significantly

2005-11-24T12:52:00.000+02:00

The support offered by migrants to social security funds is significant, according to a report released yesterday by the Immigration Policy Institute.

Two armed, plain-clothes police officers who were removed from a trade-union meeting have sparked a political row over the role and control of the police.

Greek universities will likely see private sponsors become a main source of income - a practice that is illegal under current legislation.

And for 24 hours, millions of people around the world will avoid the frantic consumer-binge on International Buy Nothing Day.

More on these stories at the ELSOKAI Forums

Watch out for a new 'virus' which is spreading rapidly. More details in the ELSOKAI pc section here

Greek media on strike

2005-11-24T06:10:00.000+02:00

All the Greek unions of employees working in the Media and Press sectors are proceeding with a 24-hour nationwide strike from 06:00 Thursday to 06:00 Friday. No news bulletins or news shows will be broadcast by ERT, or any of the other radio and TV networks, due to the 24-hour strike.

The Greek Armed Forces have sworn in top athletes as honorary officers.

Women are suffering "crisis levels" of rape, domestic violence, sex abuse and harassment in the UK, say campaigners.

And Irish fisherman netted a surprise Christmas present off the coast of England - bottles of Irish cream liqueur, complete with two glasses per bottle.

All in the ELSOKAI Forums

iPod's "party in your pants"

2005-11-23T15:43:00.000+02:00

Men from Northern Greece who have tied the knot with Bulgarian brides live in marital satisfaction and success, according to a new report.

Some 450 children who have disappeared since 2000 are still listed as missing.

Nestle Greece has stopped distributing NANI 2 formula milk due to a health scare.

Police yesterday advised people to be on the lookout for fake banknotes after arresting two people in Athens who allegedly sold forged euro notes over the Internet.

A bungee-jumping spot at a Cypriot beach popular with British tourists is the site of an ancient campsite that has yielded what archaeologists say may be the earliest evidence of Mediterranean seafaring.

Russia's far-Right is locked in a contest to see who can best exploit rising nationalism by producing the most racist television election advert.

And a Russian scientist claims he has invented a technology to steer turtles on remote control that can be successfully used in covert missions.

All in the ELSOKAI Forums

And the new iPod vibrator promises a 'party in your pants' - the mind boggles. Read about it here

A lack of info kills women in Greece

2005-11-22T22:22:00.000+02:00

Greece is a hospitable country which gives equal opportunities to all, says the Minister for the Interior.

Greece's Supreme Court has ordered the extradition of a Croatian businessman wanted in connection with a fugitive Croatian war crimes suspect.

And a lack of information is killing women in Greece.

A village council in Pakistan has said five young women should be abducted, raped or killed.

Austrian authorities have prepared charges against British historian and holocaust denier, David Irving, who was arrested 11 days ago.

And the new Archbishop of York has made a powerful attack on multiculturalism, urging English people to reclaim their national identity and culture.

All in the ELSOKAI Forums

The FBI aren't watching you

2005-11-22T06:00:00.000+02:00

A family in Greece needs 1,792.28 euros per month to cover its consumer needs. A shift of expenses towards communications was noted.

Fares for taxis, KTEL buses, urban transport and trains will increase as of 2006.

Greek scientists addressed an appeal to the citizens to remain alert against the increasing threat of AIDS.

And the head of Interpol has warned that the world must face the inevitability of a bio-terror attack by al-Qaeda (uh, ethnocentric technophiles again).

Meanwhile, the FBI said e-mails made to look like they come from the agency are warning computer users that the FBI is monitoring their Internet use.

"These scam e-mails tell the recipients that their Internet use has been monitored by the FBI and that they have accessed illegal Web sites," the FBI said in a statement.

"The e-mails then direct recipients to open an attachment and answer questions."

"These e-mails did not come from the FBI," the statement said. "Recipients of this or similar solicitations should know that the FBI does not engage in the practice of sending unsolicited e-mails to the public in this manner."

Opening e-mail attachments from an unknown sender is risky, the FBI said, because such attachments can contain viruses that infect the recipient's computer.

So there we are. The FBI isn’t monitoring your internet usage. It’s probably the CIA. Hi guys, everyone’s welcome here, come over to the ELSOKAI Forums and join in. You can find info on a new anti-phishing tool from Microsoft, too!

Police losing control in Athens?

2005-11-21T17:41:00.000+02:00

Two people were injured by gunfire outside the Athens office of Golden Dawn, an extreme right-wing group.

More than 50% of Athenians have little or no faith in the police force and seven in ten of the city's residents feel unsafe walking alone in their neighborhood at night.

A poll in the UK has revealed "disturbing attitudes” on who is to blame for rape.

And forget ‘Beaver Espania’, Club 18-30 is trying to change it’s image - next year's destinations include a Black Sea resort in Bulgaria - with the opportunity to visit monasteries and go hiking. (Have I lost track of time? It’s April 1 already?)

22,000 foreign IT workers were issued with work permits for the UK last year, of whom 85 per cent were from India.

And in the Weird, Wild & Wacky section: a woman has admitted attempting to open an airplane door mid-flight so that she could smoke a cigarette.

All in the ELSOKAI Forums

Cleansing the French ghettos

2005-11-20T20:43:00.000+02:00

OK, bit of a provocative title but if you’re an ethnocentric technophile with a loathing of the French rioters, the chapters on mass murder by nanotechnology in the French ghettos may have a lot of appeal.

If, on the other hand, you just like a good thriller, ‘The Lazarus Vendetta’ by Robert Ludlum and Patrick Larkin will probably still appeal.

I’ve posted a short review under A novel idea? at the ELSOKAI Forums

The "Internet of Things" - a brave new world

2005-11-20T03:13:00.000+02:00

Following on from Bridging the digital divide, here’s how the - not too distant - future looks to be:

Humans may become the minority as initiators and receivers of internet traffic as smart homes and fridges, as well as automatic machines and mobile phones, become the main users of the Internet.

The latest designs in technology (i.e. in robotics, sensors and nanotechnology) will render the Internet the basic ingredient of all electronic objects.

Smart fridges will soon be able to communicate with supermarkets to order food, mobile phones will be linked to the Internet and used as credit cards, and vehicles will be automatically updated on their position through special networks, while managers will know exactly where their workers are through Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) embedded on their phones.

At the same time, it is believed that the "Internet of Things" will create new markets and will offer business opportunities both in the industrial sector as well as in telecommunications.

Well, that’s absolutely hunky-dory, if you can / can afford to access the internet. Looks like Greece won’t be creating many new markets or new business opportunities.

I’ve previously posted at ELSOKAI about a kettle you can switch on by phoning it and the spy in your car boot.

Personally, I’m not sure I want my fridge phoning the supermarket to order my next meal for me.

Large-scale snooping is about to get up close and really personal, with radio tags in everything from bus tickets to new knickers. Big Brother will have his beady eye on our affairs as never before, if we allow it, and a simple trip to the supermarket could reveal far more about us than we’d ever imagined — even after we leave the store.

Radio tags have a promising place in society, but it’s not in our shopping bags or underwear. If retailers want to turn us into walking inventories while we are in their shops, they might at least have the decency to turn off their electronic snooper when we leave their premises. Now is the time to stand up for our right to privacy, before Big Brother has moved into the home.

And in case you think I’m a paranoid loonyleftie (good guess, btw), those two paragraphs came from an article at The Times.

The report on the "Internet of Things", written by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a body within the United Nations, points out the need to educate the public on the consequences of the invasion of those devices in everyday life. As they say,

The focus lies on privacy protection, which governments, the private sector and other agencies must act upon from the outset to safeguard.

As things stand, the internet can be a very dangerous place.

Internet of Things – ERT report

Internet of Things – BBC report

Dodgy goods go back on the streets

2005-11-19T18:13:00.000+02:00

Interesting bit of news on ERT online, first reported on NET news: products confiscated from shops as being unsuitable on safety grounds are often auctioned off… so they find their way back on to the streets, often sold by street vendors. And it seems the procedure for granting CE labels, which should ensure some kind of quality, is full of loopholes.

Yesterday I mentioned John Dimitri Negroponte here. Today I came across this article. A bit worrying, when you consider his statement about how Greek values have influenced his life? I’m not convinced many Greeks would share his apparent values. But correct me if I’m wrong.

Aristidis Lakiotis, who’s name had been on the police “most wanted” list for extortion and manslaughter, died in hospital yesterday morning after being fired at 15 times in a gangland-style shooting outside his Nikaia home.

I know there’s a few folk on Kef who come from Bradford and I’m sure we were all sorry to hear about the death of PC Sharon Beshenivsky, murdered yesterday in the line of duty. Latest news is that three men have been arrested in London in connection with her murder.

And there’s an interesting post by Roger on internet prices, which you can find here, and a question about using Skype. Must admit, I haven’t got around to Skype, or VoIP at all, so if you’ve got any info or views, please let us know – you can always post in the Guest Spot at the ELSOKAI Forums

"Migrants are sacred" - ND

2005-11-18T20:51:00.000+02:00

“This society and people considers the migrant sacred”, according to the Greek Interior Minister. That was in reply to a comment that immigrant ghettos are forming in Athens.

OTE appeared to backtrack yesterday on its decision to raise Internet connection rates by up to 500 percent (hmmmm)

I’ve posted my blog bit (original below) about ‘Bridging the digital divide’, with some additional info

As the government submits proposals on the latest version of Olympic… whatever… news on another - very successful - ‘Greek’ airline.

And talking of flying, the cost of UK passports is set to rise considerably – but that’s OK, we’ll all be living longer to enjoy the ‘benefits’ – and working until we drop, if the UK government have their way.

Well, at least olive oil is good for you… isn’t it?

The weather in Athens has been crap.

And a couple of guys have found a way to make money – print it.

All this, and more, in the ELSOKAI Forums

Bridging the digital divide, the Greek way

2005-11-18T18:33:00.000+02:00

As Greece commemorated the 24 deaths outside Athens Polytechnic campus in the 1973 uprising against the military junta, OTEnet delivered another blow to freedom of liberty by announcing proposed price increases of between 75% - 500% to connect to the internet for people who have to rely upon dial-cup connections. Although public outcry has dented OTE’s chances, it still plans to increase costs, albeit in stages.

Internet usage in Greece lags far behind the rest of Europe and the number of people on broadband is a miserable 0.7% of the population. At the same time, connection costs are amongst the highest in Europe.

So while Greece drags its feet, FYROM, among other countries, realises that the internet should stand alongside roads, water and electricity as essential infrastructure and is rapidly becoming a wi-fi hotspot.

The ‘digital divide’, between countries – and people – who have access to the net and those who don’t, is such a serious concern that it has been discussed this week at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis where some 170 countries and more than 20,000 delegates are taking part in the UN's largest ever summit.

The aim of the three-day meeting is to look at ways of using information communication technologies to help improve living standards in some of the world's poorest nations.

A key aim under the UN's Millennium Development Goals is to connect all the villages of the world to the internet by 2015.

To achieve this goal access to computer technology and the internet is, obviously, essential. This means making it affordable. Remarkably, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab has developed a $100 laptop.

The laptops are powered with a wind-up crank, have very low power consumption and will let children interact with each other while learning.

Nicknamed the 'green machine', it can be used as a conventional computer, or an electronic book.

"… when we make this available, it is an education project, not a laptop project. The digital divide is a learning divide - digital is the means through which children learn learning. This is, we believe, the way to do it."

"Every single problem you can think of, poverty, peace, the environment, is solved with education or including education," said Professor Nicholas Negroponte, founder and director of Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab.

So, what can a $1000 laptop do that the $100 version can't?

Not much. The plan is for the $100 Laptop to do almost everything. What it will not do is store a massive amount of data.

To take part in the initiative, governments have to commit to buying a million machines for around $100 each.

That is a lot of money for any government to commit. As Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the UN said, “nations have to show the political will to bridge the digital divide”. The cost of not committing to the information age is incalculable.

If there is any further incentive for Greece to bridge the digital divide and join the information age, surely it is, as ERT News pointed out, that Nicholas Negroponte is Greek: born (in the USA) the son of a Greek ship owner.

And a second member of the €100 Laptop scheme Principals is also Greek. Michail Bletsas, Director of Computing at MIT Media Laboratory, holds a diploma in electrical engineering from Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, and was involved in the development of one of the first ADSL Internet-access test beds. He was born in Chania, Crete.

So, while two Greeks promise to crack the digital divide wide open, Greece itself seems determined to move backwards and join countries where free speech and use of the internet is severely limited. Lack of commitment and investment – lack of political will - in education, in infrastructure, in actual accessibility, leads to the same end, just by different means.

Greeks: 80% think immigrants "take, don't contribute"

2005-11-17T18:16:00.000+02:00

Turkey could be banned from the 2010 World Cup after Fifa launched an investigation into the violence that followed their play-off with Switzerland in Istanbul last night.

Osama bin Laden wants the United States to convert to Islam, ditch its constitution, abolish banks, gaol homosexuals and sign the Kyoto climate change treaty... and CoE archbishops have condemned the Church of England as evil!

An FBI-style website aimed at tracking the UK's most wanted crime suspects is being launched by Crimestoppers.

Sony has now published a list of all 52 titles that use its much criticised anti-piracy system, and is under fresh criticism as the patch it issued to solve the problem leaves a new security hole in pc’s. Oh my!

Is splog the new spam? That's the question being asked by an increasingly irate weblogging community as it grapples with dodgy sites.

A prototype of a cheap and robust $100 laptop for the poor has been welcomed as an "expression of global solidarity" by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan…

… as politicians and a leading consumer group called on the government yesterday to intervene and block a decision by phone company OTE to hike Internet charges by as much as 500 percent as of next month.

Greece has been tackling money laundering for the last 10 years using two men and a borrowed computer. Well, let’s hope they are among the lucky 0.7% of the population on broadband, or they will be facing up to a 500% increase to connect to the net, too.

And almost eight in 10 Greeks believe that immigrants have contributed to a rise in crime and have offered little to the country, according to statistics revealed by immigration experts at a conference in Athens yesterday.

All this at the ELSOKAI Forums

Killing the 'net in Greece

2005-11-16T23:51:00.000+02:00

Dialing up to the Internet will cost some 75% more, as per the new price rates of OTE enforced as of December 6.

From now on, users surfing via the Single Access Dial-up Number (EPAK) will be charged with 23 units per hour, as opposed to 13 currently in force, while the night rates, which were cheaper, will be abolished.

This means that the user, for one hour of connection, will pay 0.60 euros, as opposed to 0.34 euros.

Story here

Who said it?

2005-11-16T20:26:00.000+02:00

Who has called for "affirmative action" in France to tackle higher than average unemployment among minorities - one of the problems angering rioting youngsters in run-down suburbs – saying,

“I challenge the idea that we all start at the same starting line in life, some people start further back because they have a handicap - colour, culture or the district they come from. So we have to help them.”

President Jacques Chirac
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy
DeviousDiva
Zevs (Mike)

Cast your vote here: Who said it?

Greeks are the most religious in Europe

2005-11-16T18:51:00.000+02:00

Greek hospitals seem to be getting ‘ripped-off’ by suppliers, e.g. it costs 26,235 euros to buy a pacemaker in Greece, whereas the same equipment cost almost 11,000 euros less in France (uh, maybe demand will be going up there?)

And three million dangerous syringes and catheters imported from Germany but made in China have found their way in to Greek hospitals. Bit worrying.

Greeks are the most religious people in Europe and the eighth most devout in the world, according to the results of a worldwide survey conducted across 68 countries over the summer and made public yesterday.

Youths attacked a French car dealership and a Greek-French supermarket chain with petrol bombs in Thessaloniki early yesterday.

“Greece... has international obligations which it has to live up to” and more Greek soldiers will be sent to Afghanistan.

Turkish union members filed a lawsuit against Coca-Cola Co. and its Turkish bottling subsidiary after police attacked workers trying to join a trade union with "a particularly lethal form of tear gas".

Genocide allegations against Turkey have taken a place among a group of works on “Crimes against Humanity” in London.

Good news of the day? I’m getting the bar stocked up (and just gotta sample the stock!)

More news at the ELSOKAI Forums >

2,000 kids a year trapped in to child sex rings in Greece

2005-11-15T17:14:00.000+02:00

Some 2,000 children are drawn into child sex rings in Greece each year, United Nations officials said in Athens yesterday.

‘Anarchists’ attacked an Athens police station as security measures intensified in the capital ahead of the annual anti-junta rally on Thursday.

Around 800,000 Greeks are affected by “smoker’s cough”. Many are unaware that this itself is a serious disease.

Fossils of animals which lived 5 million years ago have been found during road works near Thessaloniki.

Two articles from the Guardian which appear contradictory: in today’s Guardian, a report that Britain has become more racially integrated over the past decade; from Friday’s Guardian, a report stating that race-hate crimes are on the increase.

And millions of shoppers face a “rip-off” Christmas after a decision by leading electronics companies such as Sony.

More news in the ELSOKAI Forums >

Respect among all crucial to the nation

2005-11-15T03:13:00.000+02:00

Two Greek soldiers were wounded on Monday when their convoy was attacked in the Afghan capital of Kabul.

The Greek National Tourism Organisation (EOT) has been voted the best in Europe.

And the tatty royal palace at Tatoi is to be restored.

French President Jacques Chirac said he would uphold law and order by bringing rioters to justice and cracking down on illegal immigration, but warned that equal opportunities and respect among all French nationals were crucial to the long term strength of the nation.

More new at the ELSOKAI Forums >

'King' Otto to lead Greece

2005-11-14T17:58:00.000+02:00

Another quiet day on the news front, at least as far as Greece is concerned. But the good news is…

Otto Rehhagel has agreed to remain at the head of the Greek national football team for another two years.

Seeing as how Greece failed to qualify for the World Cup, Greeks certainly don’t have it in for all foreigners!

More on that story, plus posts on ‘Greeks are anti immigrant?’, ‘Which West? Which Islam?’ and ‘Skippy, spud & spinach curry’ at the ELSOKAI Forums >

And I came across an interesting piece in an article about the rioting in France: French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy - who was blamed for worsening the violence when he called the rioters "racille" (rabble) - took out ads in Google to push his agenda. Business Week magazine reports that French googlers who searched on such words as "riots," "burned cars", and "violence" saw ads sending them to a petition to support Sarkozy. Uh, great search engine, but beware those Ads by Google!

Which West, which Islam?

2005-11-14T01:47:00.000+02:00

What is meant by the West?

Does it mean the West that gave birth to nationalism, racism, fascism, militarism, colonialism, imperialism or the West that is the cradle of liberalism, human rights, the rule of law, democracy, multiculturalism that envisages respect for different views, faiths and lifestyles?

What is meant by the US? Does it mean “Red America” or “Blue America”, two Americas wide apart? Does it mean Clinton’s liberalism or Bush’s militarism?

What is meant by the EU? “Old Europe” or “New Europe”? Monoculturalist Europe, EU as a “Christian club” or the multiculturalist EU that is built on universal values?

Does the West mean the one that supports Israel’s domination of Palestinians, Arab dictators, invasion of Iraq or the one that stands for settlement of international conflicts through law, fairness, dialogue and peaceful means?

What is meant by Islam?

The truth is that there are many different religions and cultures in the world, but there is just one modern civilization to which they all contribute; and modern civilization is nothing but the principles that stand for respect for fundamental rights and freedoms, respect for diversity of opinion, beliefs and lifestyles and settlement of conflicts not through force but through law, fairness and dialogue.

More on this article in the International News section at the ELSOKAI Forums >

Intel to select Turkey

2005-11-13T18:38:00.000+02:00

Most of Albania has been without power for light, heating and cooking for 18 hours a day for the past week.

Following the news that FYROM is set to lead the world on wireless broadband connectivity, Intel, the world’s leading processor producer, is expected to select Turkey as the base for Middle East operations.

Microsoft’s free AntiSpyware program will be including a detection and removal signature for the rootkit component of Sony’s XCP software.

More details on these stories at the ELSOKAI Forums >

FYROM to lead world in wireless broadband

2005-11-13T03:32:00.000+02:00

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is on the brink of leading the world in what could be a template for other developing states, becoming the first wireless country.

Some question whether many of these people really need broadband connectivity, others insist the internet should stand alongside roads, water and electricity as essential infrastructure.

What the internet can do in FYROM is what it has done everywhere else: help businesses make money and stimulate the economy.

Macedonia might be the first wireless country. But it is unlikely to be the last. (And if FYROM can do it... )

More in the pc section at ELSOKAI >

Skippy & chips, anyone?

2005-11-12T20:23:00.000+02:00

With the United States still recovering from a record hurricane season, which closed much of its oil output, Mr Bush says America cannot afford to leave a huge natural resource undeveloped. Find out where George Bush plans to invade next at ELSOKAI.

A Greek researcher has developed a vaccine which can improve life expectancy for cancer patients.

Three teenage boys who raped a 12 year-old girl filmed it on a mobile phone.

A Greek member of an international phishing ring has been arrested in northern Greece after transferring large amounts of money from bank accounts.

The government is interested in a proposal to establish a cross-party committee dealing with affairs concerning immigrants.

A group of experts from Britain is to begin excavating mass graves on both sides of divided Cyprus.

While radical Muslim cleric, Abu Hamza, is in Belmarsh maximum security prison in south London awaiting trial on charges of incitement to murder and racial hatred, his wife and eight children are living in a £700,000 council house and living on income support and child benefits thought to be worth £1,000 a week, according to a national newspaper.

Sony has said it will suspend the production of music CDs with anti-piracy technology which can leave computers vulnerable to viruses. The move came after security firms said hackers were exploiting the software to hide their creations.

And does anyone remember Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo? Australians are being urged to start eating more kangaroos, defying a traditional reluctance to tuck into a national icon.

Well, we’ve got an ostrich farm near us, and there’s quite a few Australian-Greeks about… kangaroo farming, anyone? Registered users can find a ‘roo recipe in “Pelagia’s Pot”.

More details on all these stories in the ELSOKAI Forums >

Greeks are anti immigrant?

2005-11-11T19:10:00.000+02:00

I’ve just found a very interesting post over at DeviousDiva’s blog, here’s the gist of it:

According to the new European Social Survey, Greece is the least welcoming country in Europe as far as foreigners are concerned.

When asked if foreigners make the country worse, 64% said they did. Double the average.

When asked whether migrants should be allowed to settle here, 27% said none. Double the average.

When asked whether foreigners from poor countries should be allowed to come and live here, eight out of ten said no. Double the average.

60% of europeans said that immigrants were good for the economy. Almost 60% (57%) of Greeks said they were not.

As I commented at dd’s blog, I’m gobsmacked. I’ve always regarded the Greeks as being very tolerant. Feel free to comment, either at ELSOKAI or at DeviousDiva’s blog – links to both on the right >

Greek 'anarchists' hit French institutions

2005-11-11T17:21:00.000+02:00

About 40 anarchists threw rocks and paint at the entrance of the French Institute in Thessaloniki and around 70 masked young men holding black and red flags attacked the French Institute of Athens.

In France, eight police officers have been suspended over an assault which was filmed by French state television.

There’s a couple of interesting, and somewhat conflicting, reports on how Greeks spend their leisure time (when they're having a break from being the world's most active lovers, I guess!)

And Britain should drop its moral outrage over sexual relationships between pupils and teachers and accept that an "erotic charge" in the classroom can be an aid to teaching, according to a University academic. Hm, not sure about an aid to teaching but I'm always amazed when a strapping 15 year old schoolboy 'complains' that he was 'seduced' by his attractive, 33 year old teacher. Still, rules is rules, I guess.

Half of all vets in the UK have treated pets for the after-effects of cannabis consumption.

Virus writers are exploiting Sony's controversial anti-piracy software to hide their malicious creations.

More on these stories in the ELSOKAI Forums >

There is nothing Islamic about committing mass murder

2005-11-10T18:14:00.000+02:00

"There is no doubt that the Internet has opened opportunities for all sorts of people and groups. And some are extremist groups who have used the Internet as a means of propaganda to spread their hate and division," said the Muslim Council of Britain.

“There is nothing Islamic about committing mass murder."

More on this article, and a link, at the ELSOKAI Forums >

Police have an easy life - in Greece

2005-11-10T16:44:00.000+02:00

Athens declared itself “very satisfied” yesterday with the European Union progress reports which set out some tough guidelines for Turkey to follow in its accession process and which also set the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on the road to membership.

And although the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan, blamed the widespread rioting on France’s decision to ban the headscarf in schools, the European Commission for Human Rights has upheld Turkey’s decision to… ban the Islamic headscarf in universities and public buildings.

Meanwhile, law enforcement authorities asked the government yesterday to take police officers out of comfortable office jobs so more of them can patrol the streets and improve community safety.

And in the UK, a young police constable has been reprimanded for using excessive force to save a suicidal man from plunging to his death. (Uh, next time, let him jump).

Sony BMG is facing three lawsuits over its controversial anti-piracy software which surreptitiously installs a spyware-type rootkit onto a user’s pc.

A little-known start-up has demonstrated wireless broadband 1,000 times more efficient than WiMax - and claims the technique could also make wireless LANs that will run for years on watch batteries.

More in the ELSOKAI Forums >