By Van Vlahakis* I just listen to the news from Greece and I thought it might be useful to pass some advice to Greek politicians. I have substantial and long-term experience in business, creating Earth Friendly Products, the leading green manufacturer of cleaning products in the US. Business wasn’t always thriving for us as it [...]
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Forbes Magazine on Harsh “British Empire”-Style Terms, and Why Greeks Should Tell Their Creditors to Take a Hike
Tim Worstall from Forbes magazine explains why Greece shouldn’t agree to British Empire style terms imposed by the IMF and the EU and why Greeks should tell their creditors to take a hike. The Greek debt negotiations are getting into a very interesting phase indeed. Interesting as in, if you’re not scared about what might [...]
Is 2012 The Year Cretans Decide If They Want Out (from Greece)?
“Since Greece is such a geographically fragmented nation, do you think there is any movement for independence from any of the larger islands such as Crete?” No, this extract is not from some crazy local blog defending Crete’s independence movement. Cretans do introduce themselves as Cretans first, and then as Greeks, and they are indeed [...]
Greece’s Deal with the Devils: Did Anybody Read this Thing?
ATHENS – At least he didn’t say the dog ate the memorandum or go “hummana hummana hummana” while looking sheepish and wiping his face, like Jackie Gleason’s portrayal of Ralph Kramden confronted by wife Alice when he screwed up yet again, but Greek Development Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis’ excuse for not reading the deal Greece signed [...]
“Desperados” Unveils the Present Reality of Greek Youth
“Desperados”, a play written by George Iliopoulos and directed by Charalabos Loukopoulos, is about a group of college students that have just graduated from law school. When audiences walk into the Dimotiko Theatre Kallithea in Athens, they seen an on-set scene taken from a college party. As the play begins and the actors start to [...]
The Parthenon’s Ever-Changing Veneer
The ruins of the Parthenon crown the modern city of Athens with a hazy ambiguity. To the world outside of Athens, the stunning monument identifies the birthplace of Western civilization, reflecting its founding ideals and embodying absolute perfection. It bestows upon the city a unique dignity, gracing the horizon with elegance and grandeur. You can [...]
New Greek Scheme: Pay Pedophiles, Thieves, Arsonists, Masochists
GREEK BEAT Who says Socialism isn’t working in Greece just because the government has dismantled social welfare programs, cut worker’s pay by 30 percent, raised their taxes (making the poor pay while rich tax evaders don’t), has slashed pensions, is now planning to take away auxiliary payments needed for luxuries like food, and is going [...]
Comrade Koulouris and the “Do You Know Who I Am?” Era
On Saturday evening Kimon Koulouris, a former “Socialist” Minister of PASOK who is often mocked by the Greek media for his eye make up, which includes tons of mascara and eyeliner, was driving his car on Vouliagmenis Avenue, one of the busiest avenues in Athens, and repeatedly speeding through red lights. Four police officers of [...]
The Back Door, the Vested Interests, and Why Greeks Can’t Trust Their Media
Greek media’s standing with the public has fallen sharply from its high during the ‘90s and the ‘00s. The falloff in trust stems from the vilification of the news media by politicians, combined with a host of other scandals and the nation’s crisis-hit mood. The Papandreou-Psicharis dispute last Wednesday basically killed any credibility left both [...]
Vanishing Cyprus: Eurozone in Tatters
The existing turbulent debt crisis in the Eurozone is only the tip of the iceberg before the real storm destabilizes the lives of millions of citizens of the perceived mythological “EU happy family”. Debt-ridden EU countries are confronted with a social and economic hurricane never experienced before, not in Europe at least! An entire continent [...]
11 Reasons Why Greece Really Went Broke in 2011
ATHENS – Unless you were rich, a business executive, a celebrity, or among the few privileged elite who run the country and for whom every year is a banner year of profiteering, 2011 was the worst year for most Greeks since the American-backed junta of repressive Right-Wing Colonels fell in 1974. The economic crisis rolled [...]
Fakelaki, Rousfeti and the 4-4-2 System
While the Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos appears to be shocked with Mr Diomidis Spinellis’ declaration that Greek tax officers, play the 4-4-2 football system a.k.a tax evader gets a discount of 40 per cent on the agreed fine- tax official pockets another 40 per cent and the state receives only the remaining 20 per [...]
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02 / 11 Cabinet Approves Debt Deal After PM Warns of ‘Chaos’
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02 / 10 Papademos Says He Will Remove Dissenters Because Default Would Bring Misery
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02 / 10 ASE: Nervous Breakdown in Athens
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02 / 10 Greek Pirate Party Enters Greek Political Life
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02 / 10 Former President of Macedonian Studies Association Passes Away
Calendar – Exhibits, Concerts, Fun
- Lecture on Human Values by Academic Helene Glykatzi-Arhweiler February 8, 2012
- 3rd Annual Greek Shipping Forum to Be Held in Athens February 8, 2012
- 11th Athens Xclusive Designers Week in March February 7, 2012
- Australian Embassy in Athens Celebrates Australia Day February 4, 2012
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Athens
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