POLITICS AND POLITICAL PARTIES IN GREECE

This is a book directed mainly to academia, but if one is patient enough and has access to the authors to direct questions about the statistical tables or basic principles of politics, it is a superb book
I could not be a prouder sister. My brother Manos was asked to write the first chapter. The book is a compilation of academic articles about the political phenomena in Greece. Manos' article is about old and new dividing structures. By structures he means the social structures as they are depicted in political parties and how these have evolved from traditional ideologies and left-right or center-periphery divide (work-capital in Europe is stronger) to modern political ideologies (economic agenda, ecology, conservativism-social modernization and so on)
The only slight problem is that Manos had struggled with the Greek language a bit and sentences are hefty making it mandatory to be extremely focused when reading it. Definitely not a beach book unless one goes to a quiet beach (Lia :-) and reads through carefully
The way the book is edited, Manos' article sets the framework explaining the political structures and social implications in Greece and providing some contrasts with other European countries. The rest of the articles, very interesting as well, deal with more specific phenomena like the Greek 2007 elections and the submission of duopoly(ND/PASOK) to that of a multi-party parliament(Tsimbras).

Best read I had in years and there is definitely not a single sister on this planet that is prouder than I am.
His other articles are for academic journals and I am trying to get my hands on them and he is now starting working on a book.
Now I understand his obsession of researching instead of teaching. Teaching wastes time of his brilliant analysing talent. Yet, people need to learn from geniuses. Manos is one of them

Constitutional right

I can hardly believe that there is another self respecting nation that will allow such atrocity. I believe that in the Constitution, it is a constitutional right to have freedom of speech. I guess you can say what you want but you can not believe what you want. Greek Orthodox religion is regulated and directed as part of the Ministry of Education!!!! Actually it is called Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs. You will see Greek orthodox priests working as public servants. Oh, BTW, Church is not taxed in Greece but priests are paid by the state. Luvly
Now, in a country that a lot has been said about reforming the educational system, especially the higher education, necessary module to make this southeast European wannabe corner competitive, the State itself is moving backwards. Since when the State imposes on its people the religion to worship? We are still talking here about a country that wants to respect itself as a progressive nation. (Hilarious)
Oh, btw, the typical answers I am getting from the secular part of the ministry is 'we don't know, we can't help you there...hmmmm I don't really know what to tell you...'

I guess I should go to the priests side. Perhaps they can talk to God and answer my questions. Really...Greeks as a people probably deserve the Government they have...including the Religious affairs


BUCKET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

London parks

London on a sunny day is beautiful. Best to spend the day in the beautiful parks that it has. One of the most important things I am jealous of world capitals is their parks. It reminds me of what we miss in Athens. Well, one of the things that would make Athens a better place to live.

In the loop

British, no matter what they will do, they will be more alternative. They have deeply embedded in their culture the importance to be self-sarcastic, and if delivered with humor, it is a regarded a quality of high intellect.
In consequence, all British comedies embody at least an element of sarcasm, taking the piss, as a favorite British expression has it
In 'In the Loop', the brilliant team responsible are absolutely taking the piss on big political decisions and, of course, politicians.
It is a hilarious comedy, definitely the best comedy I saw since a Fish Called Wanda. It will make you fall from your seat laughing. Oh, it does require a good ear for british english, especially if no subtitles are on. Definitely a must go, especially if you have had experience living in Britain.

A dog's best friends

Dogs are said to be a man's best friend. Man is not necessarily the same to the dog. But dogs can have some very good strange friends.
Elvis, the dog lives in Leintal Zoo, in Schwaigern, Germany. His two best friends Panya and Malia love him very much and show him with cuddles and play all day long. Elivs loves the attention and the care of his friends and disregards all the strange looks of Zoo visitors.
Love rules.

Learning from superior beings - video sent by Ceasar

I have very often referred to animals as superior beings. This reference had nothing to do with me being a weirdo or an eccentric late 30s single tree hugger freak. No. I am a person who loves animals and is equally naive about human kidness. Hense the single status. Well, to cut a real long story short, I have many times referred to the superior beings but rarely explained why. Well the reason is simple. They know how to love, to survive, to care, to nurture, to accept, to change, to move on. If a dog can breastfeed orphan kittens why can not a priviledged human adopt an unpriviledged child? What was the drive so strong to this dog that made her want to keep these babies alive? Why do humans equal their own survival with the destruction of someone else? Would they hurt to breastfeed orphans? Or feed the poor? Or teach them to live? Or cure them? Wouldn't global trade benefit of the hundreds of societies that are sieged by poverty, disease, illiteracy, and eventually gloom? One of the key principles in economics is the only way to make money is to let money flow in the market. Eventually it will come back to you.
Instead then of keeping all these poor nations under global debt by giving them all the more expensive money and letting them suffer under undemocratic governments, feed them, teach them, cloth them, house them, make them feel secure. Then they will be able to consume. At equal grounds. Like you and me. Like all of us. This will probably take place sometime in the following centuries and scarcity of resources will make people work together instead of killing each other. Till then, ponder on the lessons of some who have come to wisdom before our species

Now tell me where you see the human superiority over wild life....

Dog walkers

A trend that I first saw on the other end of the Atlantic, in Buenos Aires, is that of dog walkers. These are people that take the same dogs each day for walks around Buenos Aires to its numerous parks. After the dogs walk for around a few hours, they are taken to a distinct park area which is designed for dogs toilet. Yes, they have allowed perhaps 1/20th of each park where dogs can go and poo. Then I believe the dog walker will have to collect the poo and throw it to designated bins.
They travel with 10 or at times 20 dogs in such an orderly manner that I was amazed. Sometimes I can not walk in such way my two dogs because one might want to go left and the other right
Well, the way they do it is by having a leader dog, usually is the dog of the dog walker. So when the dog walker wants to give a command to the herd, he only gives it to the dog captain and the captain then with body language I presume, or perhaps some low voice barking involved, is telling the others where to go.
I thought it was brilliant and much much much necessary.
The dogs get to two a 3-4 hour exercise routine during the day and the dog owners don't feel guilty for not having the time to do it. And the dog walker gets to have some money to pay the rent.
At the end all are happY


I also saw this in San Francisco, but the dogs were smaller in numbers, but there was no dog captain there. Also, I have not seen that in San Francisco with large breeds, whereas in Buenos Aires, there were all breeds possible.

In any case, I was happy to see it happening at any place or any variation. At least some humans realize that we can work for animals
The girl in San Francisco, I asked her if all the dogs were hers. She replied: "No, I just work for them".

Brilliant answer!

More Kittens pictures

kittens update

They are now at second week of life. They are doing well. I found out there are 3 boys and one girl. The girl, Ginger, was about to die and a few nights ago I had to stay up all night to give her half a ml of milk every fifteen minutes or so - I had to force it down her tiny throat and I was afraid to break her. But she is fine now. They are all doing great and they all start developing their own personalities.
Let me at this moment present you with each one of these wonderful little kittens and will soon post more on them.
The two orange ones are a boy and a girl, so it is Ginger and Fred, the big guy is Rambo - he keeps drinking, and the pretty one is Eros.
Cute names, eh?

Rambo Drinking


Ginger and Fred


I could not manage to get a decent picture of Eros yet, but here he is, the darker one with the rest of them.

In the picture below is Eros, Fred and Rambo

Geodiscrimination

Having recently quit my job I am enjoying every moment to the fullest. I feel blessed to just google in the middle of the day whatever comes to mind. So, yesterday I was really trying hard to find out what kind of organizations for animal protection exists in Greece - a huge joke, right.
In any case, my search eventually led me to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), a US-based charity organization that has recently branched in Europe.
One of the things that PETA preaches (and I am about to try it out) is the vegetarian life style - its benefits to all parties involved: the slimmer and healthier vegetarian human, the greener planet and the alive animal.
On their home page (both US and UK) they have the free vegetarian starter kit

I downloaded and also ordered the hard copy to be mailed over.
Guess what:
I got a message (twice as I thought I was dreaming so I filled the ordering form twice) saying: We are sorry, we can not post to your location, or some BS like that.
Excuse me? I totally agree that I live in a country of barbarians when it comes to animals, but for the love of God, why can the miniscule minority of us who do care about non-human life, be discriminated against?
I really did not expect that and it absolutely raised my eyebrows. Is it a question of a business deal between PETA and the Greek post office?
Is it a question of money? why is it possible to mail to Italy and not Greece? Seriously I have no answer to that.
Yet, it occurs to me that PETA and other organizations like that are doing it all wrong. Being an animal protector in the US is fine, a cause worthy and all that. But why is it not being an animal protector - by vegetarianism in this case - in such a barbaric state such as Greece? I am not saying that there are not appauling cases in California, but they will be the exception. I am afraid animal abuse in Greece is quite common and the country needs desperately such activist groups. The darker we are on this the worst off the animals will be. You see Greek villagers for example, think it is perfectly alright for an animal to spend the entirety of his life tied up in a rope of one meter long without ever getting unleashed. And this is common practice. So PETA you'd better get your act together and not only mail the veg start kit in Greece but also set up your most powerful of branches because the abuse of animals in Greek provinces is a daily and very common occurrence and nobody does anything about it