May
27
Today from CNN. A report on the situation for Afghan refugees in Patras.
Technorati Tags: greece, patras, immigration, afghanistan, refugees
Citizenship Battles on February 17th, 2010
Being Greek on February 10th, 2010
Laos Against Citizenship on January 25th, 2010
The Immigration Debate on January 22nd, 2010
Lack of Humanity on November 2nd, 2009
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DD, thanks for the video.
It’s clear that the Afghan refugees want to come to England. Why don’t we organise buses and charter flights to allow pick these people up and bring them to Britain, there’s plenty of room – after all, we are responsible for the mass exodus of Afghans from their war-torn country. There can be no greater support for human rights than to allow people the right to go where they want to go (especially since we’re primarily responsible for the mass migration and we have the infrastructure and funding to take them in, unlike Greece).
But racist Brits like Xenos don’t like that idea, they don’t want more immigrants in the UK – they bang on about poor human rights records in southern European countries but they refuse to grant the most basic human right of allowing refugees to choose which country they want to settle in. Brits don’t want refugees in our country, to them “Britain is full” when in fact, Britain has thousands of square miles of empty rolling hills and countryside.
Sanctimonious Brits prefer to gloss over our contribution to the human catasrophes and mass refugee problems we’ve created in Afghanistan and Iraq – we prefer to blame poor countries such as Greece for racism and xenophobia for lacking the capacity and infrastructure to cope with the level of immigration we created.
Our hypocrisy and double standards has no limits.
When we criticise poorer countries’ inability to cope with mass immigration which we created, we Brits (and Americans) are taking the utter p*ss.
A similar story was featured on ITV News at Ten (first story) yesterday. The whole stance of the story was: “How difficult is it to keep all these Afghans away from the UK…”
“How difficult is it to keep all these Afghans away from the UK…”
Why should we keep them away? The more the merrier, i say. But Britain is inherently xenophobic so it’s no surprise that they want to keep them away – we couldn’t even bring ourselves to grant residency permits for Gurkhas (Nepalese soldiers who fought and died for Britain in wars spanning decades were denied residency in the UK!).
We Brits have absolutely no moral authority to criticise anyone on their treatment of Afghan refugees.
In Britain, we are resorting to enforced repatriation for Afghan refugees.
Britain to repatriate Afghan refugees
http://www.independent.co.uk/n.....99221.html
Britain’s policy of enforced repatriation has been strongly condemned by Amnesty International, which says conditions in Afghanistan are still not good enough for voluntary returns, let alone forcible ones.
It is fortunate for the idiot Scowcroft that I no longer post under my real name, or else I would be forced into taking legal action against him and DD for this professional slander and personal attacks. I suggest you pay attention to this, DD.
The problems of immigration policy in the UK are caused by stupid politicians, obsessive people who think that political correctness solves all problems, and genuinely poor people who can see that immigration damages their weekly earnings. None of this has anything to do with me, and i resent being implicated in it.
I suggest you ignore this coward DD
What legal action are you talking about, Xenos ?
?????
Please explain. I have been threatened on this blog in various different ways but this is just absurd isn’t it ?
DD: If you don’t understand how serious these allegations made against me are, then I don’t know what to say. It is openly libellous and a disgrace that you allow such comments as the first one above on your blog. It is also a clear attempt by the person concerned to drive me away from your blog, when he is the person who has no business commenting here since he knows nothing about, and has no relation with, Greece.
I’ve never asked DD to ban you – you effectively banned yourself by saying you’d never post here again as long as I posted on this blog. You gave an ultimatum that DD should ban me or you’ll leave – DD said she wouldn’t ban me because she values free speech and you left the forum rather forlornly with your tail betyween your legs. ONLY TO REAPPEAR A MONTH LATER WITH THE SAME ULTIMATUMS AND PATHETIC BLACKMAIL ATTEMPTS TO HAVE ME BANNED. You didn’t even have the common decency to keep to your word and refrain from posting here anymore. Now, you come crawling back to the blog, threatening to take DD and me to court for god-knows-what while continuing to hurl unwarranted abuse and vulgar obscenities to all and sundry.
I’m sure there are a great many people who read this blog who don’t agree with me and who find my opinions abrasive and tiresome, but they’ve never called for my banning because at the end of the day, most people value free speech.
I’ve told you before, in the interests of forum harmony and to avoid DD having to act like a baby-sitter for adults: let’s just agree to disagree. You can skip past my posts if you don’t like reading them but don’t expect me to ignore your racism-ridden remarks and offensive generalisations. If you continue to make offensive remarks, don’t expect people on a human rights blog to ignore them, there are plenty of white supremacist sites which entertain views like yours and who’ll be quite happy to listen to you express how southern European savages have a “peasant mentality” and are lazy and prone to bribes etc etc, you’ll find a captive audience in those sites. This is a human rights blog so don’t expect to make comments like that and get away with it. And you cannot prevent people from calling you the bigot that you are, just because you threaten them with legal action, you pathetic imbecile.
I know southern European people very well – and I know a lot about British bigots and sanctimonious ex-pats living abroad, and i know they don’t like their cage being rattled.
yes I get that you are annoyed or hurt but legal action ? Sorry but that’s just ridiculous! Can you please point out the
Good grief. This is a blog not an organisation seeking to put you away or torture you or anything. I am totally clueless as to what I have done to offend you so much… Other than disagree with your sweeping statements about the “Greek peasant mentality”. Sorry Xenos, I don’t see how or why you are so angry with me. If you can, please explain further. It’s not good enough to say “I don’t know what to say” when you threaten to take legal action.
Please answer properly. If you are taking me to court (?), it would be a courtesy from you to know why.
Poor form Xenos,
What politics or idea of sovereignity are you trying to demonstrate by making these threats to DD just for disagreeing with you and listening to others who disagree with you in her own space? Why would you suggest that the other commenter is making the blog unsafe when you are the one making direct threats to DD? There must be another way to deal with the fact that some people disagree with you than threatening legal action. Please just stop.
Threatening to get your e lawyer is the lowest form of internet debate. Really…it’s like, go back to xbox live, you know?
The ONLY person who mentions anyone’s name in any way that could be proven as libel is YOU XENOS. Since he is stating an opinion you later HOLD UP TO BE TRUE ( you don’t like the immigration policy) , you are threatening ( harassing) legal action for him telling the TRUTH.
Now I know it’s very hard when trying to show how much smarter and ” deserving you are than ” those” people, but if you are going to accuse someone of something that NECESSITATES a specific attack , designed to harm on a specific identity( harassment) and a desire to spread falsehood with the intent to harm a reputation ( which as you mentioned we cant as we don’t know what you do and YOU DON”T USE YOUR NAME).
Please make sure they actually have you know DONE IT.
And I’ll leave the WOE IS ME you’re pulling in a post about refugees in a war as a simple sign of your general meanspirited selfishness.
Do NOT threaten DD.
There is no greater harm than having your internet handle called out on the internets. None.
In fact, I Am Surprised, Dear Xenos, That You Ran to the Law Rather Than Initiate a Duel. *hands you a glove and plays the tiniest, tinniest violin*
As someone who reads frequently, but rarely posts, I will say that (it appears to me) there is one person on this blog who is mean and a big bully whenever someone criticizes Greece (regardless of whether or not it is deserved) This unnamed person will make reference to Britain and America being worse than Greece time and time again rather than address the issue at hand.
Sure, standing up for the little guy is honorable, but sometimes the little guy (Greece) is at fault regardless of what is happening in the USA and Britain. Xenos’ comments (although I don’t approve of profanity) are a way to disagree with any “copy and paste” “Britain is worse” mentality that is encountered here.
Maybe a way to get us all on track is to comment on the topic of the post, and not say how bad an unrelated topic (like Britain or the USA are). This could help keep the mean comments at bay.
Am I wrong?
But you used to post here frequently George, didn’t you? You peddled your offensive opinions and unsubstantiated little stories on this blog for many years until i challenged you to substantiate your falsehoods and awful opinions of southern European people. You’ve been brown-nosing and supporting just about every racist in here since 2005. You are au fait with the notion that southern Europeans are all “peasants” and are genetically pre-disposed to corruption and other negative traits which only a racist could dream up – do you want me to delve into the history of this blog to drag up examples of your racist opinions among the dregs of the foulest bigotry ever seen on a human rights blog?.
I am not surprised you popped up from your self-imposed slumber to support another racist on this blog. Although i want to challenge bigots like you, i predict that you will return to the hole you came from very soon…If you want to engage with me, get ready to provide answers and explanations for the foul and abusive racism you’ve spouted on this and other blogs which i will happily display for the whoile blogosphere to see…it’s not pretty reading. But racism is often ugly. By the way, i have a surpise for you, let know if you want to know what it is, it’s just that some people don’t like surpises…..
Clearly, not many people here have the slighest idea of what a problem libel is. I am not surprised that Greeks don’t get it, but I expected DD to understand what the problem is.
And of course I am not going to take legal action,: I merely pointed out that it is fortunate that I am anonymous in these postings, or else I would consider it. Even in such a case, I would talk to you first, DD, and not make a public threat. I am not threatening you at all, I am asking you to police the blog with this issue in mind. Sorry if you felt somehow intimidated.
Why? I’m not a lawyer. Read like a threat to me but I am still not going to police my blog like you would wish. I am not intimidated…just annoyed.
Xenos,
Stop being such a drama queen.
You are just an anonymous nobody on the internet, you silly fool.
How can somebody make libellous comments which may be damaging to your reputation when nobody knows who you are?
We don’t know anything about you (apart from the fact that you are an arse).
Stop trying to emotionally blackmail DD into banning me by suggesting that “it’s a disgrace that you allow such comments on your blog…”, she’s too wise for your amateur psychological manipulation.
I’ll tell you what IS a disgrace:
It is a disgrace that you continue to make offensive generalisations and racist characterisations about a group of people even though you’ve been warned about it many times. DD has erased many of your ethnic slurs – you should know that your “Greeks have a peasant mentality” comments are not welcome here.
It is a disgrace that you claim to be an advocate of human rights and freedom of speech but you openly call for the banning of people who disagree with you on this blog.
It is a disgrace that you intimidate the blog’s owner and administrator and threaten her and other contributors with legal action just because you don’t get your way and people challenge your opinions.
It is a disgrace that you seek protection to be able to spout your racism by claiming to be the victim of “personal attacks” and “professional slander” and other spurious and childish nonsense. Grow up you cry baby.
It is a disgrace that you claim to have “many friends” who support your views and that they will soon rally behind you against DD’s comment policy but the only friend who has come out of the woodwork is Racist George aka the storytelling racist cabaret act who can weave the most fantastic of racist yarns and tell stereotypical racist jokes for just about every nationality on earth.
It is a personal disgrace for you that you crawled back to this blog after having vowed to all of us that you’ll never come back here as long as I was allowed to post here. Everytime you look in the mirror you see a man who lacks the integrity to keep his promises and be true to his word. (The irony is that you accuse Greeks of lacking moral fibre and integrity but you’ve shown ample examples of both).
I’ll tell you what to do: Give me your real name and I’ll use your real name to call you a RACIST up front and personal, and then you can sue me for libel (you already know my name). You don’t have to hide behind mere threats of legal action: I’ll give you valid reasons to sue me if you’ll just provide your real name (everyone on this blog is invited to come to the hearing to the bear witness to the pathetic racist trying to justify his racism in a court of law
So please, give us your real name and I’ll call you Mr. Racist to your face. The question is, do you have the courage of your convictions to reveal your real name or do we have to add “cowardice” to the long list of your personal character flaws such as dishonest, bigotted, threatening, whinger, whiner, intimidating, manipulating etc…?
DD: if you are happy to have this ignoramus in the UK dominating your blog, then OK. I (and others) accept that it is your blog and your right to do as you like.
You should’ve played the “sympathy card” before you threatened DD with legal action lol
Wow. Talk about a war:)You two seem to really hate each other. UFC is taking fighters:)
I think that Mike’s comments can sometimes be irritating, but other times offer a good contextualization. As long as people don’t take the fact that other states are just as bad as Greece, as an excuse to not take action in Greece, then I personally am indifferent to mildly interested in what goes on in the UK, and for making comparisons. But ultimately Greece is Greece and the UK UK, let the Brits worry about their country. You will say, but this is a blog about Greece? Well yes, but contextualization can be useful in putting things in perspective and combating panic or over-exaggeration. In service of level-headed analysis it can be good. Otherwise it may be useless. Mike some times crosses into one or the other. But you know what. DD is domina in her blog and her’s is the power:)
Konstantine: I don’t hate anyone, although I have a very low opinion of certain people (e.g. Greeks who stole money from me). The situation with this guy is that he represents a British type that I am familiar with, which has grown in number over the last years. In particular, UK unis have propagated this species, which believes in political correctness over the truth. Thus, it is unacceptable for independent academics to do real research if their conclusions criticise other cultures or countries.
It is this ignorant and mindless obsession with “moral right” that is slowly destroying the UK and resulting in a generation of people who cannot think. Greece has its own sort of propaganda,of course, although with similar outcomes.
In terms of comparative research, this is my own specialisation and I do not accept arrogant criticism from uninformed amateurs. The comparisons that Scowcroft makes are, for the most part, naive and childish. They take us nowhere at all, and inhibit any intelligent discussion of the problems in Greece.
Travlos,
I have lived and travelled throughout southern Europe for many years and i know the culture pretty well – i also know my fellow Brits pretty well, especially those who go abroad and start preaching the Gospel of St. George of Blighty – as if everything is hunky-dory in the land of Albion.
These ex-pats think that we’re fundamentally superior to southern European “savages” and think we need to teach them to follow our example to become “civilised”.
In fact, it’s us Brits who have alot to learn from you. Southern Europeans should civilise us.
We Brits neglect our elderly (putting old folk into homes and seldom visiting them), we have a booze culture (weekends in any British city is like a war zone), we have the highest teenage pregnancies (in the world), we have the individualistic society and fragmented communities (who do not integrate with each other and have become ghettoised), we have the xenophobic and monolingual mindset (we despise immigration, even legal immigrants are hated, and we are allergic to learning a second language). We have an awful lot to learn from Southern European culture, not so much the other way round.
At the end of the day, i think we can all learn from each other and sharing our thoughts and opinions on DD’s blog will facilitate that. I just hope some people would avoid unnecessary stereotyping and offensive generalisations.
Xen,
You don’t hate Greeks – you absolutely despise them. That’s crystal clear.
I think we’re getting to the crux of your hateful obssession with Greeks. If some Greeks stole your money Xen, why don’t you take those specific people to court or inform the police about the theft? Why do you come onto blogs and spout your hateful generalisations against all Greeks just because some Greeks “stole your money”.
I knew there was a reason for your vitriol…it must’ve been alot of money..
And who says what you spout is the “truth”? Everyone has an opinion and should be able to express themselves without being told what constitutes the “truth” by bigotted, pseudo-intellectual, clap-trap merchants like you.
You’ve threatened to take people to court for challenging your opinion, you tried to get your detractors banned, you attempted psychological manipulation on DD with childish guilt trips, you claimed support from non-existant “academic friends” who also wanted me banned, you’ve continuously made offensive remarks against southern European people which if you made against blacks or Asians you’d be up on charges of inciting racial hatred in the UK….you should be careful, you threatened people with legal action for pathetic reasons, but at the rate you’re going with your ethnic slurs, you’ll be the one who ends up in nick.
Your specialisation is making offensive generalisations and sniping at all Greeks on internet blogs just because some Greeks stole your dinner money….
Xenos,
Tell us three things you actually like about Greeks and their culture.
Ah well
DeviousDiva est domina. Vox domina, Vox Dei.
Just for the record, I am not interested to debate with ignorant pseudo-intellectuals living in the UK with a tourist knowledge of Greece. I find their attitude to be arrogant and trying to impose their political views on others who clearly have superior knowledge and comprehension. The fact that DD tolerates their abusive remarks to me (and others) I also take as a personal insult from her. Previously, I have mentioned that some of these remarks made to me are libellous: if you don’t understand about that, DD, you should not really run a blog. It is essential knowledge.
I’m sorry that you feel insulted by me, Xenos. That is not my intention. I have disagreed with you and pointed out some of your sweeping generalisations that you must be able to see are offensive to many people but I don’t think I’ve ever made
I am surprised (maybe even shocked) that you should bring up the idea of lawsuits etc because of your problems with a particular reader. Lots of people here have examined their own particular wrongdoings and have often apologised for them (myself included). You are the only person (at the moment…there have been many in the past) who seems unable to see that some of you comments are out of line, offensive to many and do not move forward with any type of dialogue! Why can’t you see that saying “Greeks are peasants” (or have a peasant mentality) is deeply insulting to Greeks. And please don’t trot out the academic versus the rest of us argument. Just try and look at that statement as a human being writing on a blog for other human beings.
Just for the record, I have welcomed opinions from people from all over the world since the beginning of this blog. I have welcomed insights from people who have NO knowledge of Greece and have never even been for a holiday here! I am not about to start discriminating against people who have no knowledge of this country. I actually like and encourage people to send me links to “related” human rights issues and that will continue.
I am also impressed at the amount of time people have put in to researching and digging up links etc. In this day and age (with the 5 sec attention spans) this is a rare thing and I am actually proud of my strong and dedicated community of readers.
Let’s please, once and for all, leave aside these personal arguments and start discussing the issues. Let’s also try and understand that our words have the power to really hurt people and try and avoid doing so.
Thank you
Xen,
It’s not libellous if no-one knows your name so shut up and stop being such a drama queen. I told you what to do, give us me real name and i’ll call you a racist and bigot to your face. Then you can sue me.
When you stop hurling abusive remarks and highly offensive stereotypes against southern European people then people will stop calling you a bigot. Instead of making threats against DD, you should be thanking her for providing this platform to discuss human rights issues.
Unfortunately, you’ve used this blog as a personal vehicle to vent your frustrations on the nationality of people who stole your money. You’ve used this blog since 2005 to attack a whole nation and to make offensive blanket statements about Greek people just because a few Greeks stole your money. I was mugged by a black guy while going home after school, should i hate all blacks because of it? Yes, according to your logic.
Instead of criticisng DD, you should be thanking your lucky stars that she has allowed you to get away with your bigotry on this blog for so long.
Tell us three things you actually like about Greeks and their culture.
I am not prepared to retract the comment, made a long time ago, that Greece is a peasant culture. I am sorry if you politically correct people cannot cope with it, but that’s your problem. I have avoided repeating it, since I realise that many people are afraid of the truth.
The idea that I use this blog to vent my “frustrations” is just ludicrous. Everyone who lives in Greece is frustrated with the chaos and mess that currently pertain. The fact is that there are massive problems of corruption and government incompetence that are unrivalled in the EU (15) countries. I am not prepared to discuss this with idiots who do not even live in Greece, simply because it doesn’t suit their political opinions. I do not need DD’s blog to publish my professional opinions, which are widely disseminated and quoted across the world. Nor do I need the approval of a sanctimonious idiot, to be allowed to engage in serious discussions of contemporary issues.
And no, I will not give my personal opinions about Greece, Scowscroft. Who the fu*k do you think you are? Just mind your own business, for once, and leave alone things that you cannot understand.
I guess that explains your position once and for all, Xenos. I’ve tried and so have several others to explain our position to you. I am definitely afraid of the “truth” that is peddled by far too many people these days. The “truth” that some people do not deserve a fair hearing because they look a certain way. That some people are less equal than others because they were born in the “wrong” country. I have heard those “truths” all my life and they have been fairly prevalent on my blog in the past.
Yes, accuse me of being too PC. Fine. I do not think of Greeks as being peasants or of a peasant mentality even though I critisise the country over and over on this blog. If I thought they were peasants perhaps I wouldn’t even bother to have a blog right? The fact is that most of the people who write here are Greek (unlike the two or three of us!) and I simply have more respect for the country I live in than you do? Sure, I’m frustrated by things that go on here. Angry and annoyed and frustrated. But I cannot and will not lump people together in a blanket statement like ” “they are peasants!”
Ugh! PC is always used as an insult but I’d rather be too PC than just plain wrong. We’ve survived many many phases from “liberal” to “commie” to who knows what? I’ve been a geek, to a loon to a terrorist to an enemy of the state just on this blog! Being too PC is minor!
I’m closing down comments on these threads in a while so please feel free to fight for the last word!
And then we’ll get back to the issues?
Ok, but why can’t you talk about these problems in a respectful and constructive way instead of using offensive generalisations such as Greece has a peasant culture, Greeks are inherently homophobic, Greeks are natural beggars, Greeks are lazy, Greeks are paranoid, Greeks are keen on corruption etc (These are quite mild in comparison to the other vile things you’ve said about Greeks on this blog – perhaps DD can recover your vile posts that she’s had to delete so we can all see the level of your hatred and racism..).
Why don’t you name just ONE of these “widely disseminated” publications? Are your “professional opinions” published in Stormfront or the latest British National Party manifesto?
Having your money stolen by some Greeks does not necessarily make you an authority on Greece. You are an internet nobody who’s had his money stolen by a few Greeks and whose only means of retribution is to spout anti-Greek propaganda on the internet. You are pathetic.
And if you “don’t need DD’s blog to publish professional opinions”, why don’t you just f**k off outta here (to use your vocabulary).
You mind your own, you hypocrite. You’re a Brit just like me – we’re both ex-pats living in southern Europe, I have as much right to speak about southern European cultures as you. My business is making pseudo-intellectual racists like you squirm. And business is very good
Why don’t you heed the wonderfully-worded plea from DD above? Just be respectful and talk constructively about the issues raised on this blog – i’m sure you have alot to offer on many subjects if only you’d refrain from the outright bigotry and offensive stereotyping but you can’t seem to help it.
I’m sure most Greeks on this blog were brought up in “Greek culture” and they are not homophobic, anti-Semitic or keen on corruption etc. How do you think it makes these ordianry Greeks feel when you lump them in the same boat as the minority of Greeks who are corrupt?
It is incredibly offensive to make generalisations like Greek culture is “peasant culture” and you say it with so much hate behind it.
Seriously, get some help, it can’t be doing you much good spiritually or psuchologically to be so bitter about a whole nation. Better yet, if you hate Greece and Greeks so much, why don’t you do yourself and everyone else a favour and just f**k off out of the country? (to use your vocabulary).