On the mess of Greece, Ephraim?s arrest, the National Hellenic Museum, the church, fire claims

One can only admire, and deeply appreciate that our culture is always protected, embraced and shared in the diaspora. Sadly, I doubt any of our ?esteemed? and graceful politicians have taken the time to note the National Hellenic Museum. Or, better yet, try and support it. One can only pity the curator when she arrives in Greece and begins her own disastrous odyssey with Greek bureaucracy and foul civil servants.

Lionel Luthor

Re: Like prophets on a mountaintop

Interestingly enough I have said the same thing so I suppose I will get you angry as well Alexis. I believe that we are at fault because we knew of the corruption and did nothing. We kept electing the same ineffective and corrupt individuals to represent us.

During the last 25 years there has been little to no progress on any real front. It has been a known and open joke that we received money from the EU only to get little investment return. A small percentage does pay taxes but the real contributors do not and there is no penalty. Our public sector, which is enormous, is mismanaged and inefficient, and this has been going on for ever. People go on retirement at an age and with benefits unheard of in the rest of the financially disciplined nations. Our public medical system has been broken for years and there is no real fix in sight. Our education system is gridlocked in politics, we issue worthless decrees and our kids have little future.

Yes, I do think we deserve this mess since we created it and propagated it. While the going was good we did nothing to change the situation and since 1970s we had Karamalis and Papandreou with their cronies governing us because the existing status quo benefited us all!

Let us hope and see now that that the chickens are coming home to roost if we can clean up our act. I really hope things will turn around but even in your short venting of frustration there is no glimmer of hope, just more complaining, which is our national pastime.

Bill K.

New York

The likely composition of the next parliament

Recent polls suggest that in the March-April 2012 elections, New Democracy would obtain about 25% of votes, PASOK 15% and the Communist Party would do well in its comfortable third position. How will the current politics of more or less isolationism evolve, given the also fairly large representation of other parties to the left of PASOK?

Marc Sursock

Geneva, Switzerland

Re: Yilmaz’s fire claims

I was really interested seeing the reaction from our kleptocratic-turned-super-patriot politicians. They really should take a breather. Mr. Yilmaz and other Turkish politicians of his era (Ciller, Ecevit, etc.) ran the Turkish economy and state to the ground. In short, these characters have as much integrity, respect and competence as the current lot (Nea Pasokratia) ruling Greece.

In reality, our politicians have a lot in common with Mr. Yilmaz. He claims he wanted to destroy Greece by trying to burn it down while our super-patriot parliamentarians want to accomplish the same thing by trying to preserve a corrupt system. Maybe they should have tea together and discuss what they know best: how to destroy their respective countries.

John Athans

Fires in Greece

Why is Athens so surprised about the Turks setting fires in Greece? In December 1996 the then-prime minster of Turkey boasted in the Turkish parliament, «We burnt Rhodes.» The terrorist group Grey Wolves were paid to set Rhodes on fire. Ciller went on to say, referring to the Grey Wolves, «It is an honor for those who shoot for Turkey,» and what was Athens?s response? Nothing!

Incompetent Papandreou and his corrupt PASOK party humiliated Greece then and now. Greece should immodestly issue an international arrest warrant for Ciller for the arson she was responsible for. If she ever leaves Turkey the arrest warrant should be activated and have her extradited to Greece to answer the charges of arson.

Secondly, bill Turkey for millions as compensation for her criminal act.

Jack Hatzi

Re: Ephraim?s arrest

Amazing, that a nation of corrupt politicians, none of which are being prosecuted, woud have the temerity to bring charges against a monk who has no self interests what-so-ever. But then again, when we take into account the calumnious charges against Saint Nektarios, we can see how easily people are threatened by those on the other end of the moral spectrum.

Jeannette Kotsonis

Church and state — partners in crime

If the church is totally separate from the state, then why does the state — from our taxes — pay the salaries of the priests? Why doesn’t the church pay any tax on the millions in rental income it receives? Why was Vatopedi allowed to happen in the first place?

The church and state are more like partners in crime and no one in either organization should be exempt from prosecution.

The justice minister and his ministry should be left alone to carry our their respective business.

Jonathan Reynik

Political party funding

Imagine just how much ?black? money passes through these parties, when one watches just how greedy these parasites are to get their hands on that prized position! Imagine how many deals this lot make behind our backs, and at our expense as taxpayers.

Greece’s political parties are fronts for money laundering, shady deals and the daily wholesale robbery of this nation. When the EU will step in to investigate this lot of 300 crooks is another question that begs an answer. How much do they owe to banks? 250 million euros? How do banks lend these clowns anything? Based on what? Tax receipts? The economy has collapsed, so tax collection from whom? The pensioners? Big business, please.

Lionel Luthor

Re: Like prophets on a mountaintop

I agree with you, Mr Papachelas. And there’s no such thing as a free lunch, so all these meetings, lunches, debates had better start producing some results. However, I’m not sure whether the Greek politicians even know how to «enter into the fray of politics and public confrontation.» If they had even one gram of true caring and honor for their country and fellow citizens, they would have rolled up their sleeves long ago and buckled down (together) to solve the many problems, many of these caused by them in the first place. But they continue to strut around like roosters, puffing themselves up to show how strong and clever they are.

Patience is starting to run out, and whether Greece deserves it or not, the devastating drachma is looking more and more likely; a point will be reached where there will simply be no more solutions, no more bailouts, no more sympathy, and Greece will be left to fend for itself in order to stop the contagion from going even further than it already has.

The next election will come round, the same faces will campaign, the same faces will be voted in because of their campaign lies, and they will get away with it again. The whole cycle will start over and no matter what they promise, they will not be able to wave their wands and save Greece overnight.

Even those «who know» cannot stop this rot; look how loudly they’ve been shouting over the past months — has it helped at all? I think Greek society is way beyond boiling point, but I also think they’re more concerned with bare survival, watching their livelihoods melting before their eyes. They have been beaten and trodden on and I pray they will have the strength to stand up and hit back. But what are the alternatives in the ballot box? The next generation of same ol’ same ol’?

Mary-Ann Faroni

Zurich