Thoughts and observations
The misinformation and exaggeration we have recently seen in the mass media is astounding. We’ve lost sight of what is substantive news and what is hearsay and misinterpretation of facts. Unfortunately, Kathimerini contributes to the mudslinging we have been witnessing the past few days with its,at times, confusing, unsubstantiated and exaggerated commentary. The case in point is the referenced editorial (Saturday-Sunday, January 26-27) which not only is false, by stating that «Koukodimos… approached… Themos Anastasiadis…» (whereas the truth is that he visited his friend, Makis Triantafyllopoulos), but it also makes the outlandish accusation that «Koukodimos’s stance is an insult to the country’s democratic institutions.» And this because he correctly chose to respond to his «friend» via the medium in which he was first publicly accused by his own «friend.» Koukodimos had no business going to courts, or to Parliament (as the editorial claims) for a personal dispute with a friend. He informed his party of his innocence, and that should be the end of it. An «insult to our democracy» for this event is more reflective of the biased editorial in Kathimerini than of Koukodimos’s actions. FOTIS THEODORE, Kifissia.
Distributing free energy-saving light bulbs is a good thing, but can Greeks be trusted to dispose of them at the end of their life without causing greater damage to the environment? Energy-saving light bulbs contain the toxic element mercury and must not end up in landfill sites or thrown at the side of the road. Last summer, whilst on holiday in Evrytania, as well as the abandoned cars, discarded ovens, refrigerators, building rubble, car batteries, mattresses etc, I noticed that the power company simply disposed of the burned-out bulbs from street lights by throwing them at the side of the road. Greeks indeed have to get their act together for the sake of the environment as well as tourism. P. MOYHRITSAS, Cheshire, England.
There are five buses (507, 508, 509, 535 and 536) that depart from Zirinio plus the A7 from Athens that serve many communities beyond Kifissia in outlying areas in the northern suburbs. Many times one has to wait 30 minutes in the Aghia Marina area during off-peak hours. Then one often finds a train of buses headed for Kifissia, that is, two or three buses, one behind the other. Surely there should be better scheduling that would enable a bus to pass about every 10 minutes. I don’t know if there are other communities that have this problem, but certainly if it could be corrected in this area, more people would use the bus system here instead of their cars. On occasion it has taken close to an hour, waiting and traveling, to reach Kifissia, a distance of only about six kilometers. M. DOTIS, Aghia Marina.
Makis Theodoratos hit the nail on the head («Legal shortcomings plague Greek holiday home market,» January 14). I am a Northern European and also had the intention to buy a holiday home in Greece… Instead – and thank goodness – I rented a place for only a short period. Once my lease has ended, I will try to find a place somewhere else, possibly Malta. I love the natural beauty of Greece and some of the very charming Greeks I have come across. However, I find it very, very hard to put up with being ripped off from dawn to dusk, not only in Athens but now even in my small village where I have been spending several months over the years.
