Archive for October, 2009
Chinese Negotiators
‘I have 3 demands or I’ll kill the boy!’
Negotiators assess the situation from next door
Head Negotiator dispatched
Negotiations begin
Negotiations concluded
They probably spent $0.35 cents
In our country, we would shut the street down for 48 hours.
Take 12 hours to talk him out of it.
Spend $5 million [...]
October 28, 1940
"They have chosen to die resisting, rather than to live submitting" Pericles, Funeral Oration, 431 BC
Without much ado, I will let my late grandfather, Nicholas, speak about October 28, 1940 and what followed the Italian fascist invasion of Greece.(Grandfather to me): The air raid sirens sounded early in the [...]
An obviously decent, thinking man resigns…
I copy below the resignation letter of Matthew P. Hoh, Senior US Civilian Representative, Zabul Province, Afghanistan. He strikes me as a thinking, decent man with a true and justified worry about his country’s unnecessary role in one of the most intractable domestic conflicts in history.
Mr. Hoh’s military past and his record of previous [...]Terror strikes again
Late last night two helmeted attackers arrived on motorcycles outside the Aghia Paraskevi police precinct house in northern Athens and opened fire with AK-47s. Six officers and one passer-by were hit. Two of the officers are in critical condition. The remaining four are reported hospitalized, stable and improving.
The attack came only one day after the [...]
And then reality strikes
George Papandreou has been in charge for some three weeks since his victory in the elections of October 4. The spotlight is now on deeds not words! What’s the outlook then?
1) Fitch cuts Greece rating on soaring deficits, debt.
2) End to public sector apprentice scheme. Some 23,000 people are immediately affected — they will go [...]“Tolerance” that is intolerant: the new Nazism
I grew up in a university environment where the “politics of tolerance” was a fad just emerging. Today, the fad has come to form a massive trend bulldozing governments, affecting legislation, imposing severe penalties on transgressors, and promising an even larger Orwellian edifice to monitor and control behavior across societies lest the “vulnerable” and [...]
Old friends depart
I was very much saddened to hear from a mutual friend that Steve S., whom we all knew as the “Frag” (from ‘fragmentation grenade’) passed away recently from an undisclosed illness.
I met Steve during my second day of my first week in college — I, the disoriented Greek, he a US Marine veteran fresh [...]Feels So Good ! … and more …!
Armenia, Turkey, and the death of Truth
I would have given anything to be a mole in the ground listening in to the to and fro that finally led to the shameful “agreement” between Armenia and Turkey yesterday. I can just hear the arguments in favor of an Armenian-Turkish “rapprochement” … the “geostratic balance” necessities … the “pragmatic” need for Armenia to [...]
Citizen’s Protection
Greece has a new law enforcement ministry called “Citizen’s Protection”. Some find the title very “existing socialism” sounding. Perhaps. I, myself, would give you any title you wish provided you go in there and do the job, i.e., yes, “protect the citizens”. I am not sure what exactly is the philosophy of George Papandreou’s [...]