tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post1751153449394504784..comments2024-03-29T05:33:43.878-04:00Comments on Murder is Everywhere: What to Wear to the RevolutionOvidia Yuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05749549092493567689noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-83463757876267343512011-07-04T13:48:37.717-04:002011-07-04T13:48:37.717-04:00Michael, are you suggesting Jeffrey P might have p...Michael, are you suggesting Jeffrey P might have picked something up at birth in MN that he's transmitted to GR?:)<br /><br />--JeffJeffrey Sigerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00718317707555064653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-19594219268450336362011-07-04T11:53:35.839-04:002011-07-04T11:53:35.839-04:00I would write something inane here about the St. P...I would write something inane here about the St. Paul roots of the Greek Prime Minister, Jeffrey P, but Minnesota has shut down so I can't say anything.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-42263551200548585702011-07-04T04:49:21.070-04:002011-07-04T04:49:21.070-04:00Sorry, Kathy D and Lil. That shows what happens w...Sorry, Kathy D and Lil. That shows what happens when I type in a rush and don't proof my work--even with the excuse of fleeing Athens for Mykonos:) However, there is an explanation: I was thinking Kathy D but typed Lil, no doubt because I'm prone to mixing up the names of people I like very, very much ... just ask my kids:). <br /><br />--JeffJeffrey Sigerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00718317707555064653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-30475116181382897652011-07-03T21:04:18.743-04:002011-07-03T21:04:18.743-04:00Ouch, Jeffrey, it wasn't me, it was Kathy D. I...Ouch, Jeffrey, it wasn't me, it was Kathy D. I'm just worried about the ordinary people in the world and how they are going to get by. Democracy is messy, and hard to swallow sometimes.lil Glucksternhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288522126331817172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-63816332576762207272011-07-02T23:56:17.727-04:002011-07-02T23:56:17.727-04:00Interesting observation about the police, Beth. Mo...Interesting observation about the police, Beth. Most Greeks will tell you that they hate the police for many of the same reasons they voice similar feelings at their politicians. BUT they also sympathize with their situation. Cops (I understand) make between 700-1200 euros a MONTH. That's $1000-1700 per month. And though, as many workers in Greece receive additional months pay each year, much of that is now gone with more cuts coming. <br /><br />Still the frustration rages, but at the police more as an institution than as at a specific human being...as demonstrated by the AP observed event. The army is mandatory service by all male citizens. <br /><br />I won't discuss their training, as that's another story in and of itself. However, I think it's fair to say that the military in Greece is not so much an arm of the government, as much as an amalgam of everyone's cousins, brothers and sons.<br /><br />As far as the demonstrations go, I'm all for them. What aggravates me and drives even the (peaceful) protestors to anger is how the truly few rowdies who predictably highjack so many protests with their stone throwing and police baiting continue to get away with it. It's "always" the same ones, and no one is arrested. Or so it seems. <br /><br />The question is always why? As for the answer, well, Lil, I have none but as your Greek shopkeeper friends will admit (or possibly demonstrate themselves:)) Greeks are prone to see a conspiracy in the number of raisins in a cereal box:).<br /><br />Am leaving Athens now to head back to Mykonos. Have a tourist board meeting, Beth:). <br /><br />--JeffJeffrey Sigerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00718317707555064653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-41439085374640791992011-07-02T20:49:53.847-04:002011-07-02T20:49:53.847-04:00The severity of the economic crisis and austerity ...The severity of the economic crisis and austerity measures, including pay cuts and the massive unemployment justify massive protests.<br /><br />They are also part of Greek history. The people have always protested. It's a given.<br /><br />During WWII, there was quite a strong Greek Resistance, and the population is extremely politically astute.<br /><br />When I have met Greek shopkeepers in the U.S., they are puzzled why their patrons discuss sports and the weather while a war is on. <br /><br />Horrors being visited upon the Greek people are being covered over here in the NY Times, on lots of news blogs, of middle-class people reduced to living in cars and standing on food pantry lines.<br /><br />One woman in the NY Times who lost her job six months ago and can't find work said that these austerity measures will cause much more suffering and poverty. She was joining the demonstrations because, she said, "there is nothing left to lose." <br /><br />So, I sympathize. I wish people over here would demonstrate, protest, go on strike like their Greek brothers and sisters.kathy d.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-68354070865186754852011-07-02T17:55:24.834-04:002011-07-02T17:55:24.834-04:00No one would think the Greeks would want you to le...No one would think the Greeks would want you to leave. You are a one-man tourist board for Mykonos. They have to consider all the people who have put it on their must-see places since your books hit the shelves.<br /><br />"Police and demonstrators ceased combat and scoured the debris-strewn street, uniting in a frantic search for the missing digit. They found it. The finger was rushed off in a wet towel to a hospital, where doctors reattached it to the injured man.” Quite an example of politics being set aside for a human and humane response.<br /><br />Is there a great deal of difference between the police and the demonstrators? How well paid are the police? Will their pay not be affected by some of those stringent cost-cutting measures? If Greece is like most countries, the guy who lives next door may be a police officer. They are part of the community and, as such, their families, their homes are affected by what happens to the community at large.<br /><br />It gets scary when the military become involved. They are not part of the community. They don't live in the community and their allegiance is more closely tied to the government. The pledge of allegiance is made to the nation but, in some countries, the leaders of the government wrap themselves so tightly in the flag that it is difficult to tell how to separate them.<br /><br />Greece gave us democracy. It deserves a strong, vibrant democratic society.Bethhttp://www.murderbytype.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com