Thessaloniki's (not quite) naked bike ride

Thessaloniki's (not quite) naked bike ride, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

2009 European parliamentary elections in Greece

In a few minutes the polls will close for the European parliamentary elections in Greece. In Thessaloniki the weather has been excellent with temperatures in the low 30s with just a few wisps of clouds to disturb the azure blue sky, a tour operator's dream package and a nightmare for Greek politicians. Unlike say, Britain where good weather ensures a higher turnout at the polls, a perfect summer's day has sent voters in Greece's second city rushing to the seaside to enjoy the country's famed beaches.


Unlike 2007, my local polling station has been as quiet with just a trickle of people coming in and out to cast their votes. In the last national elections the school was abuzz with commotion and movement as people desperately looked for places to park their car or chat with friends and neighbours. As is the case in Greece, civic duty then had the air of a carnival with people enjoying the festive atmosphere. Today the picture is completely different as local residents have taken advantage of the three day holiday and left the city leaving the roads empty for those wishing to vote in the EU elections.




Despite the fact the turnout is likely to be much higher than in many other EU countries many political leaders are anxiously awaiting mot just the results for their particular party but also the percentage of absentee votes.


After a year and a half of almost non - stop accusations of corruption and mismanagement the ruling New Democracy party is expecting a drop in their figures. However, considering how many times the party's name has been implicated in graft and influence peddling scandals things could be worst.


New Democracy's standing in the polls has been helped considerably by the fact that rival left - wing PASOK party has also been facing corruption charges concerning its last stint in power when it allegedly accepted bribes from German electronics giant Siemens over contracts for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.


Smaller parties such as the Greek Communist Party (KKE) and SYRIZA have been trying hard to capitalise on the larger parties failings but with limited success, unable to match the vast media budgets that New Democracy and PASOK have at their disposal. In addition the incestuous relationship between Greek media corporations and political life means that those not allied with the two main parties struggle, often in vain to get their message across.

However, voters are expected to show with their absence that it is not business, a fact likely to influence the timing of the next general elections.

For more information check out the Wiki page on the 2009 European elections in Greece.

Lydia - Λυδία

Lydia - Λυδία, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

This picture reminds of something Diane Arbus would have taken. That wasn't what I had in mind when I took it but looking at the picture now it somehow seems familiar.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Arbus

SYRIZA European election rally in Thessaloniki

SYRIZA European election rally in Thessaloniki, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Σε πανστρατιά, για την ανάδειξη του ΣΥ.ΡΙΖ.Α σε τρίτο κόμμα και την επανεκλογή του Δημήτρη Παπαδημούλη στο Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο κάλεσε ο πρόεδρος της Κ.Ο. του ΣΥ.ΡΙΖ.Α Αλέκος Αλαβάνος κατά την ομιλία του στην προεκλογική συγκέντρωση στην πλατεία Αριστοτέλους, στη Θεσσαλονίκη.

Είπε ότι θα διαψευστούν όσοι τρίβουν τα χέρια τους ελπίζοντας πως οι νέοι θα πάνε για μπάνιο την Κυριακή και σημείωσε ότι οι νέοι δεν θα χαρίσουν το δικαίωμα της ψήφου που κατακτήθηκε με αίμα από τη γενιά του Πολυτεχνείου.

Τέλος, αναφέρθηκε στις οικολογικές ευαισθησίες του ΣΥ.ΡΙΖ.Α, στις μάχες που έδωσε, τις συγκρούσεις με συμφέροντα και τη δραστηριότητα του Δ. Παπαδημούλη στο Ευρωκοινοβούλιο για θέματα προστασίας του περιβάλλοντος.

Επίθεση στις φιλελεύθερες πολιτικές στην Ελλάδα και στην ΕΕ πού όπως είπε οδήγησαν στο ξεπούλημα της δημόσιας περιουσίας , αποσάθρωσαν τις εργασιακές σχέσεις μειώνοντας δραματικά το εισόδημα των εργαζομένων και περιθωριοποίησαν μεγάλα κοινωνικά στρώματα,εξαπέλυσε ο κοινοβουλευτικός εκπρόσωπος του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ Φώτης Κουβέλης από τη Θεσσαλονίκη λίγο πριν την ομιλία του Αλέκου Αλαβάνου.

Η ψήφος στον ΣΥΡΙΖΑ δυναμώνει τη φωνή των εργαζομένων και αποδοκιμάζει τον δικομματισμό και την πολιτική της ΝΔ ανέφερε ο κος Κουβέλης.

www.athina984.gr/node/53299

Thessaloniki's (not quite) naked bike ride 2009

Thessaloniki's (not quite) naked bike ride 2009, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Billed as a protest against excessive car use, cyclists, wheel chair users and even skateboarders with their dogs rode through the centre of Greece's second city, Thessaloniki drawing amused glances and cheers from local residents. Although called the naked bike ride, most of those taking part choose a more demur approach, using body paint and swim wear to avoid antagonising the local authorities who last year used riot police units in an attempt to stop the parade.

The event, which was designed to raise awareness of the environmental and social effects of excessive car use in urban areas was a mix of serious activism and party aesthetics. The impact of cars is particularly acute in Greece' major cities leading to some of he highest levels of air pollution in Europe.

Since the first Naked Bike Ride in 2004 the event has grown to include 50 cities worldwide with tens of thousands of people taking part every year.

Last year's event proved more eventful when riot police units clashed with participants following the arrest by officers in plain clothes of a British cyclist who they claimed had been fully naked. The local public prosecutor had announced that nudity would not be tolerated and backed up his warning by setting up police blockades just outside Thessaloniki's city limits. Despite tense scenes the cyclists were eventually allowed to continue their ride.

Ποδήλατα παντού στη Θεσσαλονίκη

Περισσότεροι από 200 γυμνοί και ημίγυμνοι ποδηλάτες έβγαλαν από τους ρυθμούς της τη βασανισμένη - και από τα έργα του μετρό - πόλη και για λίγο έκλεψαν τη «δόξα» από τα αυτοκίνητα, που με το καθημερινό μποτιλιάρισμα έχουν οδηγήσει τη Θεσσαλονίκη στις πρώτες θέσεις των πιο ρυπογόνων πόλεων της Ευρώπης.

Χρωματιστά ποδήλατα, πατίνια, skateboards, ακόμα και αναπηρικά αμαξίδια, στολισμένα όλα με λουλούδια, μετέφεραν το μήνυμα ότι μπορεί να υπάρξει ένα καλύτερο μέλλον με περισσότερα ποδήλατα και λιγότερη μόλυνση.

Η πορεία ξεκίνησε από την περιοχή του Βαρδάρη, διέσχισε την Εγνατία, πέρασε από την πλατεία Σιντριβανίου και την πλατεία Αριστοτέλους και κορυφώθηκε μπροστά στο Λευκό Πύργο, χωρίς εντάσεις ή συλλήψεις, όπως στο περυσινό πρώτο βήμα.

tvxs,gr

New Democracy rally in Thessaloniki for the European elections

New Democracy rally in Thessaloniki for the European elections, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Amidst torrential rain and lightning, Greek prime minister Kostas Karamanlis spoke to New Democracy supporters in the northern port city of Thessaloniki last night as part of the country's European election campaign .

Stressing foreign policy issues such as relations with Turkey and Greece's northern neighbour, Macedonia, Karamanlis sought to deflect criticism of the government's domestic record and play down the effects of a series of damaging corruption scandals which have rocked Greece over the last year.

Despite massive publicity bad weather and a general sense of disappointment with the performance of both major parties in the Greek parliament meant that turnout for yesterday's rally was lower than expected.

Greek prime minister addresses crowds in run up to Euro poll | Demotix.com

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PASOK party rally in Greece for the 2009 European elections

PASOK party rally in Greece for the 2009 European elections, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Greece holds world's most expensive opinion poll

With the European elections just days away, the leaders of Greece's main political parties are feverishly touring the country in order to persuade voters to cast their ballot

The cost of organising the elections is expected to top 150 million euros, more than double the 60 million spent holding national elections in 2007. Although public interest in European issues is low, Sunday's vote is widely considered to be a litmus test for the ruling New Democracy party's standing.

Giorgos Papandreou addressing PASOK supporters in Thessaloniki, Greece

Giorgos Papandreou addressing PASOK supporters in Thessaloniki, Greece, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

ΚΚΕ Θεσσαλονικη - Greek Communist Party rally - Thessaloniki

ΚΚΕ Θεσσαλονικη - Greek Communist Party rally - Thessaloniki, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

This picture was taken last night during a KKE( Communist Party of Greece) rally in the centre of Thessaloniki. It is party of the final days of the election campaign for the European elections which will take place on Sunday.

Tonight Giorgos Papandreou, leader of the main opposition party, PASOK will also be addressing the party faithful in Aristotelous square.

Tomorrow it is the turn of Kostas Karamanlis, prime minister and head of the conservative New Democracy party. That should be eventful as whenever he appears there are widespread protests. Whatever happens the security measure are sure to be tight so I'll have to have my wits about me.

Actually, all these party rallies are a pale shadow of the events that took place in the 90's and before. Then party leaders could expect to address crowds numbering hundreds of thousands. With the growing importance of TV and the withering of the major parties reliance of local branches ten thousand is considered a big turnout.

Still, none of this matters as the spectacle is designed to look good on TV. For that purpose a crowd of 10,000 is just as useful as 100,000.

Μάθε καλά τα SOS για τις εξετάσεις. Here are your crib notes for the test.

Μάθε καλά τα SOS για τις εξετάσεις. Here are your crib notes for the test., originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

ΚΟΥΡΑΣΗ 67.2%
ΠΙΕΣΗ 58.0%
ΠΛΗΞΗ 52.7%
ΑΓΧΟΣ 52.4%

TIREDNESS 67.2%
PRESSURE 58.0%
BOREDOM 52.7%
ANXIETY 52.4%

As I was in the centre a headline in the Eleutherotypia newspaper caught my eye, Pupils Golgothas. Actually, every year newspapers use exactly the same words to describe the annual Panhellenic university entrance exams. However, the article also mentioned the results of a survey which had been conducted on student attitudes to school. The most popular response was tiredness, followed by pressure, boredom and anxiety.

To fully understand what students in Greece go through on regular basis you have to look at a typical day for many of them. This involves waking up at 7am in order to be in school for just after 8am. After doing a full day at school many of them are expected to do extra lessons at cramming schools, known as frontisteria in Greek.

Here they are supposed to learn the material which the regular school program was unwilling or unable to teach them. If this was not enough students are often assigned huge amounts of homework by both their school and frontisterio.

The basic logic being that "good" teachers swamp their pupils with material. As a result, after finishing extra lessons at 9 or 10pm they are often studying till midnight for the next day.

As if this wasn't enough the teenagers are also expected to study for a foreign language qualification which many consider essential in today's job market. So, add another 6 - 10 hours of lessons and study to your week.

You'd expect that with so much teaching going on the amount that students learn would be much higher than in other countries? Unfortunately, no. In international surveys on student ability Greek pupils regularly score far below their "lazy" European peers (see pg 53).

What you have is the educational equivalent of gruel. A low quality product dished out in large quantities. Dull, boring and mostly ineffective which people are forced to consume in vast amounts as they have no alternative.

The picture above was taken a little while back in a high school here in Thessaloniki. I spent a weekend in this classroom wondering how on Earth people stand seven odd hours a day in such a place without going crazy. The material and intellectual poverty of the place was enough to depress even the most ardent advocate of education. Bare walls, broken furniture, total absence of any kind of teaching equipment other than a board marker were stark reminders of how little interest the present government has in providing quality learning.

The school, which was less than a decade old was little more than a warehouse to keep kids off the streets, a con trick to fob off parents with the illusion that their children are being educated.

ΠΑΣΟΚ - Με την ευγενική χορηγία της Ζίμενς

ΠΑΣΟΚ - Με την ευγενική χορηγία της Ζίμενς, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

"Reinhard Siekaczec, a former executive at the German electronics giant, which supplies equipment to Greece’s state telecoms operator, gave damaging testimony at a trial in Munich earlier this year. He said that “commissions” worth 8% of the contract’s value were paid to Greek politicians and senior executives through a network of offshore companies. The total amount exceeded €1 billion, he claimed. Most of it apparently went to officials from Pasok, which held power from 1993 to 2004, but the New Democracy government elected that year approved a contract worth over €40m for security equipment for the Athens Olympics.

Nikos Zagorianos, a prosecutor investigating the Siemens affair, is shortly to go to Germany. One former Pasok official, Theodoros Tsoukatos, has admitted that he accepted €400,000 from the local Siemens boss as an election contribution in 1999, when he was a prime ministerial aide responsible for collecting political donations. Amid the furore, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a New Democracy deputy who is the son of a former prime minister, recently paid an overlooked bill for a switchboard that was supplied to his private office by Siemens, after a copy of the invoice was printed in a Greek newspaper."

http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12209248