Although it was tougher in comparison with the previous four years, this time we had a record number of ad pages, which enables us to secure publishing in the “slower” months of summer. Needless to say, the struggle doesn’t end here, but we have every reason to pause, take a deep breath and feel happy about this not so minor accomplishment, and to renew our commitment to offering you a constantly improving and evolving publication.

Having said that, I regret that the abundance of ads doesn’t leave me much space to respond as I would like to those pundits who so pathologically and pathetically have been bashing Greece these last few months! But what can we do, all good things come with a price!

First of all, no one in his right mind can deny that Greece has many flaws: tax evasion, corruption and chronic mismanagement are rampant, while productivity (with the exception of popular music “Eurovision- style”) is as low as …her growth rate (projected -4% this year – a major recession). In the state-owned and run Hospital of Evangelismos there are four main door …operators—and the door is automatic! At the same hospital, about 15 people are employed as elevator operators (and there aren’t even many Orthodox Jews there requiring Sabbath service). Again, the elevators are automatic. The funnier thing is that since these individuals were employed to drive elevators, they refuse to do anything else, and as a result, the hospital is understaffed in other sectors! Just some small but indicative examples that help shed light on the bigger picture.

However, given all that and much more that’s going on, one cannot justify the intensity and the impossible to hide hatred behind the barrage of negative statements unleashed in the northern European media—in which even government officials participated with gusto. What “poor” (with rich inhabitants) Greece has experienced in the last five months amounts to a public lynching – a favorite practice employed until not too long ago by most northern European peoples. How very indicative of their neo-barbarian roots! In the history books, northern European tribes that formed today’s nations, especially the Germans, are called neo-barbarians as differentiated from the older barbarians, such as the Phrygians, Thracians, Lydians etc. The term neo barbarian is an invention by historians in order to protect the reputation of the original barbarians who were not that barbarian after all! To clarify: it’s like when we say …“conservatives” and “neo conservatives,” there is a big difference between the two.

But before you rush to accuse me of racism, let me remind you that a reputable (?) English historian, Simon Schama, speaking recently on none other than CNN, cited anthropology and meteorology in order to conclude that people who live in warmer climates have developed (in their DNA, I suppose) a natural laziness and tendency to corruption which the current Greek crisis illustrates as an equally …natural consequence! And that was only one in hundreds of remarks by other less …reputable commentators that reached a similar …caliber. Besides, echoing Professor Schama’s brilliant conclusion, actually as a precursor to it, for sometime now, the British press has been using the acronym PIGS when referring to Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain, the countries whose peoples appear to suffer from this DNA anomaly! Good thing that an Irishman, Mr. A.W. Lally Herbert, a newspaper reader, coined the term SWINE to include Scotland, Wales, Nothern Ireland, England (how can you not love the Irish?) The British should know better because one of their own, George Orwell, wrote the classic book “Animal Farm” and the pig that features prominently in it doesn’t look or sound Portuguese, Italian, Spanish or Greek!

Well, I’ve used most of my space and didn’t even pick on Germans. Maybe I’ll devote another commentary entirely to them. Led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, the anti-Greek sentiment in Germany has trickled down to the average people who faithful to their DNA tendency (?) gathered behind their leader, as they did when Hitler was the boss, and started blaming Greece for everything. In polls conducted in February about 70% demanded that Greece be …punished! The noise subsided somehow when some cooler minded economists pointed out that Greece is Germany’s number one customer when it comes to military equipment (and the Porshe Cayenne for that matter – Greece has more than any other Eurozone country, with the exception of Germany that makes them!) Overall, Deutschland Uber Alles has gained more in comparison to the support it extended Greece when the latter entered the European Union.

Anyway, like I said earlier, I can’t say a lot since space is limited, so l’ll conclude with an exotic parable: after Qaddafi, the Libyan dictator (not to be confused with Cavafy, the Greek poet from Alexandria) struggled hard to support terrorists and deliver Pat Robertson-style sermons by the bucket to liberate the Muslim world from the infidels’ grip, he delved deep into theology. Recently, he came up with the conclusion that Christ the Messiah, is for Jews only, while Mohammad, since he was the last Prophet (as if God couldn’t change his mind and decide to send a few more in the future) is for all people! With a brilliant revelation like this one, I expect Qaddafi to condemn all those Islamist empty-headed fanatics that started burning and killing indiscriminately when a Danish newspaper published a couple of funny cartoons featuring the Prophet! If Mohammad is for everybody, then nobody has exclusivity in speaking for him or protecting his honor. The same goes for Christ and the not so few “Christian” empty-headed fanatics who don’t think twice before assuming personal crusades, simply because they can’t think …even once!

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