Friday, May 10, 2013
Wednesday, May 08, 2013
Monday, May 06, 2013
Ministry of Love Needs You
The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from all the oligarchies of the past, in that we know what we are doing.
All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just round the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal.
We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?’
1984 George Orwell
Sunday, May 05, 2013
Friday, May 03, 2013
Thursday, May 02, 2013
Wednesday, May 01, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
George Osbourne's Big, Big Book of Economics. Revised edition with foreword by C. Reinhart and K. Rogoff
George Osbourne's Big, Big Big Book of Economics. Revised edition with foreword by Professors Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Friday, April 19, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Residents of ierissos protests against police arrests
Two anti-mine protesters arrested by Greek police during raids this week were refused bail and may spend up to 18 months in jail before being tried. Outside police HQ in the city of Thessaloniki, 3000 supporters gathered in support.
www.demotix.com/news/1958261/anti-mine-protesters-greece-...
www.demotix.com/news/1958261/anti-mine-protesters-greece-...
Greek police blockade against residents of Ierissos protesting againstarrest of activists
Greek police blockade against residents of Ierissos protesting against arrest of activists, a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.
www.demotix.com/news/1958261/anti-mine-protesters-greece-...
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Raid on homes of anti-mine protesters sparks protests in Greece
Raid on homes of anti-mine protesters sparks protests in Greece, a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.
www.demotix.com/news/1947921/raid-homes-anti-mine-protest...
Protesters gather in Thessaloniki in solidarity with the residents ofIerissos following police raid
Protesters gather in Thessaloniki in solidarity with the residents of Ierissos following police raid, a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.
The protests have brought about an intense reaction from the Greek police who have regularly sent riot police and anti-terrorist units into the area and has led to a number of clashes.
For more on the background to the story follow
AntiGoldGreece blog (Mostly in Greek but with some English entries) Use Google Translate.
antigoldgreece.wordpress.com/
Saturday, April 06, 2013
Friday, April 05, 2013
Thursday, April 04, 2013
Unpaid local authority workers protest in Greek city of Thessaloniki
Unpaid local authority workers protest in Greek city of Thessaloniki, a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.
Employees of local councils across Greece's second largest city congregate outside the offices of GSEE (Greece's Trade Union congress) in order to plan their next move.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Greece. The green shoots of recovery
Greek pensioner scavenging among rubbish on a Saturday afternoon, just before the city's central market closes for the weekend.
Protest against Greek government's moves to deny children of immigrants born in Greece citizenship
Protest against Greek government's moves to deny children of immigrants born in Greece citizenship, a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.
Taken yesterday in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Riot police keep close eye on families gathered for Greece's independence day parade
Riot police keep close eye on families gathered for Greece's independence day parade. Thessaloniki, Greece., a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.
Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city was no exception with the president and other VIPs (who also included a convicted criminal) safely ensconced in the middle of a 1 km no-go zone surrounded by thousands of riot police. The aim of the authorities was to ensure that there would be no repetition of the events of 2011 when a spontaneous protest closed down the annual No day military parade in the city and angry citizens forced president Karolos Papoulias to flee the area. The incident sent shock waves through Greece's deeply unpopular political class revealing as it did the depth of ordinary people's anger towards their rulers.Just weeks later the government resigned.
The present government with its hard line on matters of law and order was taking no chances that such scenes would be repeated and so made sure no protest would be able to get anywhere near the VIP stands. In Athens the central Syntagma Square was emptied of citizens and a wall of buses kept back people from government politicians.
As Greece struggles through yet another year of economic contraction and the government promises yet more austerity cuts the gap between rulers and ruled becomes more and more apparent on such occasions.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Never again
Taken at a ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the first train load of Jewish Greeks sent by the Nazis to Auschwitz concentration camp from the norther port city of Thessaloniki.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
How Cyprus can call the EU's bluff.
As you are probably aware Cyprus is now in the middle of negotiations with EU leaders over a 17 billion euro bailout needed to save the country from bankruptcy. The original plan which involved the taxing of bank deposits at up to 10% has proved unworkable and has been voted down by the Cypriot parliament. However, there is another plan that would allow Nicosia to secure a loan and not have to implement painful spending cuts (and risk becoming the new Greece/Spain/Portugal) nor impose a bank levy that would annoy foreign depositors, especially the Russians.
When Cyprus achieved independence from Great Britain in 1960 large swathes of the island were handed over to the British armed forces to be used as bases in the strategically important eastern Mediterranean. The Sovereign Bases Area are still important given their proximity to Middle Eastern hot spots and the fact they lie so close to vital shipping routes through which so much of the world's oil comes via the Suez Canal.
So here is the deal. The Cypriot parliament turns down present Eurogroup proposals and instead announces that a) they are considering re-negotiating The Sovereign Base Area deal with a view to inviting other nations to tender bids for a long term lease or b) they say that they will allow other nations to build naval facilities on the country's territory, thus giving them a similar deal . The cost in either case to be approximately the same as the money being used by EU to blackmail (the Cypriot PM's words, not mine) Nicosia into agreement.
Now this is where things get really interesting. Given the poor shape the Assad regime is in, Russia must be wondering if its naval base in Syria will survive a regime change and therefore an alternative offer would be welcome. That it comes from a country with such close ties with USA and UK makes the idea an even more delicious irony, given NATO's encroachment on countries close to the Russian border has been so unrelenting. The fact that huge volumes of natural gas may be flowing through this part of the world soon also adds to the attraction.
Even the suggestion of such an offer to the Russians will set alarm bells ringing in London, Washington and possibly Paris and combined these countries will be able to bring a huge amount of pressure to bear in Brussels and Berlin. Does the EU really want to change the balance of power in such a sensitive region for a paltry 7 billion euros? Given the geo-political ramifications and the fact that the European nations have already pumped 1.7 trillion euros into propping up the continent's ailing banking system, a few billion more may be considered a price worth paying.
In either case, Cyprus comes out on top, it doesn't have to tax depositors, large or small, it's banking sector comes out of hiding this week intact (more or less) and it gets the money it needs to avoid bankruptcy.
When Cyprus achieved independence from Great Britain in 1960 large swathes of the island were handed over to the British armed forces to be used as bases in the strategically important eastern Mediterranean. The Sovereign Bases Area are still important given their proximity to Middle Eastern hot spots and the fact they lie so close to vital shipping routes through which so much of the world's oil comes via the Suez Canal.
So here is the deal. The Cypriot parliament turns down present Eurogroup proposals and instead announces that a) they are considering re-negotiating The Sovereign Base Area deal with a view to inviting other nations to tender bids for a long term lease or b) they say that they will allow other nations to build naval facilities on the country's territory, thus giving them a similar deal . The cost in either case to be approximately the same as the money being used by EU to blackmail (the Cypriot PM's words, not mine) Nicosia into agreement.
Now this is where things get really interesting. Given the poor shape the Assad regime is in, Russia must be wondering if its naval base in Syria will survive a regime change and therefore an alternative offer would be welcome. That it comes from a country with such close ties with USA and UK makes the idea an even more delicious irony, given NATO's encroachment on countries close to the Russian border has been so unrelenting. The fact that huge volumes of natural gas may be flowing through this part of the world soon also adds to the attraction.
Even the suggestion of such an offer to the Russians will set alarm bells ringing in London, Washington and possibly Paris and combined these countries will be able to bring a huge amount of pressure to bear in Brussels and Berlin. Does the EU really want to change the balance of power in such a sensitive region for a paltry 7 billion euros? Given the geo-political ramifications and the fact that the European nations have already pumped 1.7 trillion euros into propping up the continent's ailing banking system, a few billion more may be considered a price worth paying.
In either case, Cyprus comes out on top, it doesn't have to tax depositors, large or small, it's banking sector comes out of hiding this week intact (more or less) and it gets the money it needs to avoid bankruptcy.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Employees of the AGNO dairy company protest over lay offs and unpaid wages.
Employees of the AGNO dairy company protest over lay offs and unpaid wages., a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.
Over 100 employees of the Greek diary company Agno, have been laid off afteer the company filed for bankruptcy recently. Despite this the business has continued to work 3 shifts a day till strike action brought a halt to production.
Workers taking part inn the protest outside a ministry building in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki complain that have not been paid since last December.
Yesterday the Greek Labour Inspectorate reported that 50% of Greek businesses are failing to pay their employees on time.
Saturday, March 09, 2013
Representatives of the village of Ierissos after their meeting with police and local authorities
Representatives of the village of Ierissos after their meeting with police and local authorities, a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.
Video from yesterday's clashes.
Background to the story
Friday, March 08, 2013
Wednesday, March 06, 2013
Tuesday, March 05, 2013
Monday, March 04, 2013
Resist for a brighter smile and a clearer complexion
All photographs and images by Teacher Dude. Take a 90 second walk through my world.
Sunday, March 03, 2013
Friday, March 01, 2013
To create is to resist. To resist is to create - poster
Quote by Stéphane Hessel from his book, Indignez-vous!
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/27/stephane-hes...
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/27/stephane-hes...
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