Φωτό της Ημέρας / Photo of the Day

The suicide note and post scriptum of the living

I fear. I fear because you have no idea how angry we are and our anger has no outlet when police forces attack you as you reverently place a flower on the grass where the body of the 77-year-old pensioner who took his own life lay yesterday in Syntagma Square, just meters away from Greek Parliament.

His death was not the first. There have been many more these past two years, but the media always played these cases down with a peremptory «mentally imbalanced» name tag on each victim’s toe — if they happened to mention the incident at all, that is. Yesterday they couldn’t hide it. It was early in the morning and there were many passers-by; it was outside the parliamentary building; it was in the center of Syntagma, the square all eyes have turned to ever since this maelstrom started three years ago, where all protesters have gathered and been clubbed by batons every single time because they want to exercise their democratic right to voice their feelings.

The late victim’s name was Dimitris Christoulas. He was a pharmacist. People who knew him said the

Αφιέρωμα της Le Monde στον Μανώλη Γλέζο

Με τίτλο: «Ο προφήτης της Νάξου» και υπότιτλο «89 ετών, ο Μανώλης Γλέζος παραμένει μια φιγούρα της Αντίστασης», η εφημερίδα Λε Μοντ… έχει ολοσέλιδο αφιέρωμα σε αυτόν «που κατέβασε τη σημαία των ναζί από την Ακρόπολη και προσπαθεί σήμερα να ακουστεί η φωνή του ελληνικού λαού».

Ο ανταποκριτής της Μοντ στην Αθήνα Αλέν Σαλ (Alain Salles) περιγράφει με  ιδιαίτερα θερμά σχόλια την προσωπικότητα του Μανώλη Γλέζου. Παραθέτει παράλληλα, ενδιαφέροντα

The Truth about Greece

Prometheus Bound: The titan who stole fire from Zeus to give to mankind is punished. Ring a bell? (painting by Elsie Russell)

Comment by MySatelite: «My name is Dimitris and I come from Greece». This is the opening of a message in a bottle, a cry not for help but for empathy and awakening written by someone called Dimitris, your average, Greek everyman. This is the situation in Greece put simply. It’s illustrated, straight-forward, short and readily comprehended by a 10-year-old. Ok, it has some grammatical inconsistencies and one or two typos, but nothing that impedes understanding.

For once, let go of your stereotypes, the ones the media have instilled in all of us and read something which actually states facts and a reality Greeks have to face on a daily basis. Read Dimitris’s message below and pass it on, for the sake of our children and yours.

The videos of Greece you won’t see

The news won’t mention much other than how Athens burned last night. The news never mentions how millions took to the streets yesterday all over Greece to demand elections, to ask for a referendum, to quit the Euro, to revert back to the drachma. The news never shows what really happens, but chooses to show what it has been told to show.

Well, these are the videos you won’t see on your TV set. Please let everyone know that Greeks aren’t dumb, they see who the measures are for and know that the people implementing them are no longer

Greek strikers hurl yoghurt and stones at Athens police

Police have been firing teargas in an effort to disperse the crowd

Greek police have fired teargas at protesters outside parliament as MPs prepare to debate new austerity measures required for the EU and IMF bail-out package.

Demonstrators around Syntagma Square in Athens responded by throwing yoghurt and stones.

Thousands are taking part in a general strike, the third in Greece this year.

Ports, public transport and banks are badly disrupted as the main public- and private-sector unions go out on strike.

Prime Minister George Papandreou is seeking support for a new austerity programme of 28bn euros (£24.6bn; $40.5bn) in cuts to take effect from 2012 to 2015.

State-run companies have also joined the walkout, while hospitals are only offering emergency care. However, airports are operating normally after air traffic controllers called off their strike.