Witnessing History

As Ariadne and I prepare for our trip to Greece, this weekend provides an interesting hinge moment for both my two nations.  The short and accurate take on things is America continues to get better, towards a more perfect union, while things in Greece are somehow actually getting worse.

And that phrase from the Constitution is a succinct reminder why America is America and Greece is Greece.

The legalization of gay rights in all 50 states, a lightening bolt of civil rights from the Supreme Court, is another example of what makes America America: citizens organizing and striving for their rights in a democracy, and believing they can win because of our democratic institutions.  They did, and they won at the highest court in the land.

Greeks, on the other hand, have neither the belief that their democracy works nor that their institutions are just or that they can win.  There was hope that PM Alexis Tsipras would be a little different but he seems to lack political skills and has completely overplayed his 'hand.' As soon as he took office he started to negotiate via blustery press releases and press conferences. Instead of saying, 'look, I know we messed up but the big question is what does Europe do with Greece now'  Tsipras has done the opposite for 4 months. That attitude seems to have played into the hands of Eurozone hardliners in Germany who obviously have no sympathy for the Syriza government.

But Europe should have sympathy for the Greek people.  But they don't.

I imagine the only solution is for President Obama or Treasury Secretary Lew to call German PM Angela Merkel and say "Cut Greece some slack. Your banks have been reimbursed and there is no reason to be putative. After all, Germany should remember what happens when you rob a nation of it's dignity and ruin it's politics. Bottom line: the US does not want a NATO ally being driven out of the Eurozone and into the arms of rogue like Putin or China."

Hopefully that will happen. And in turn Greek voters will demand institutions that serve the public good and the Greek political class will show some patriotism, pay their taxes and stop stashing their money in Switzerland (like Nazis, climate change-loving sheiks and other ne'er do wells).

And Ari and I will have a front row seat. We will be in Thessaoloniki on June 30, the day Greece may default, and in my mom's hometown village on July 5, the day Tsipras wants a referendum on the Eurozone deal.

I'll try to blog as often as possible, looking back at a country that continues to strive to be more perfect while typing from hotels in a nation just trying to survive.

A few more notes:

• I'll never understand the opposition to gay rights or gay anything.  Until it's mandatory gay marriage, what is there to get fired up about? The small-minded opponents of gay rights often say that that community is outside the mainstream, but that's exactly the opposite.  In my lifetime gays have only asked for mainstream American rights: join the Boy Scouts; openly serve in the Armed Forces; get married.  Who are these weirdos?
• As I blogged before, Greece needs to be more like America. Instead of looking towards Russia or China what Tsipras should really do, if Greece is forced to leave the Eurozone and into a Grexit with drachmas, is ask for a TPP-style trade pact with the US.  It could be a play at regional stability in the shaky, ISIS-haunted eastern Mediterranean that links the economies of Greece, Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and other countries that are democracies. Greek olive oil could completely dominate the US market! I'm not an economist but seems like a good idea, right?

Syriza Imitates the US - on immigration

One of the worst trait of knee-jerk lefties around the world, or here actually, is an lazy anti-Americanism.  For a country like Greece, that does not make sense.  There are many ways in which America could benefit from imitating Greek attitudes on food, family, and work-life balance.

But Greece really needs to copy American ideals such as meritocracy, faith in democratic institutions (courts, etc.), taking more personal responsibility for civic life  (volunteerism, citizens boards), and above all not asking what your country can do for you but what can you for your country.  

One way our meritocracy manifests itself is an immigrant can come to America and instantly feel like an American, and more importantly know a child born here is automatically an American citizen.  

Unlike the U.S. or Canada, most old world nation's determine citizenship by blood or heritage. For instance, in Greece there are generations of Greek-born Albanians who despite that birth are officially Albanian citizens. The same was true for Turks in Germany, northern Africans in France, etc.  That is starting to change in Europe, though not everywhere, but in a very progressive move changed this week in Greece courtesy of Syriza. 

On Tuesday, Alternate Migration Policy Minister Tasia Christodoulopoulou announced that Greek nationality would be granted to all migrants' children who were born and raised in Greece. She added that this would apply to even those who were not born here, but came to Greece at very young age and finished school here.

That is huge!  Congrats to Syriza for that very humane and logical move, AND for imitating the U.S. too.

New Day, Old View in Ελλας

Two days into the Syriza era in Greece and the world economy has yet to collapse!

Though Greece is still in the eurozone new Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has shaken things up a bit already, starting with his inauguration. As the son of a Greek Orthodox priest and the nephew of two more, including one in the motherland, it is still hard for me to believe that an atheist could get elected Greek prime minister. Tsipras solidified his non-creed cred by holding a secular swearing-in service without a Bible or priest. 

Another change is that Tsipras appointed Greece's first cabinet minister to root out and fight corruption, a laudatory move that elevates solving one of the country's most intractable and urgent problems. Hopefully the minister's job will also include shaming/ cajoling/forcing Greece's wealthiest citizens to actually pay their taxes. [Republicans like to point to Greece as an example of a failed welfare state but as I blogged before it is a GOP paradise: the rich simply don't pay taxes.]

An atheist PM. Fighting corruption. Those are two new, never-been-seen-before qualities for a Greek prime minister. One other change proposed by Tsipras, an end to the European sanctions against Russia, looks new and bold but is actually an old, tired and failed policy. 

During the 400+ years that Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire, Greeks repeatedly looked to the northeast, to our Orthodox coreligionists in Russia, to come liberate us and restore a Byzantine Orthodox Empire with Constantinople as it's capital.

As you may know, that never happened. Nevertheless, too many Greeks have inexplicably always looked to Russia. It didn't matter if Russia was ruled by czars, Communists, dictators, or thugs; many Greeks continued to look longingly - and unrequitedly - to Moscow. 

It's ironic that a guy who wants to do things differently in Greece - which is admirable - includes a tired, old and failed attitude towards Russia on his to-do list, and that an atheist wants to nurture an old relationship built on Orthodoxy. 

Republican Paradise?

One reason most Greek-Americans will likely vote for Barack Obama – again I might add; most surveys from 2008 showed more than 60 percent of Greek-Americans voted for Obama - is the way Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and Republicans everywhere compare the Obama Administration’s spending and economic policies to the current crisis in the motherland.

“If the President gets reelected we’ll end up like Greece” they shriek (of course, many of us still think some things in Greece are worthy of emulation, but that’s another matter).

But modern Greece should look like a paradise to Republicans, especially ones like Paul Ryan who idolize Ayn Rand.

As you know, Rand’s central philosophy was that enlightened selfishness and hyper individualism was the best way to build a modern society, and she rejected collective - especially government - action and programs. 

In Rand’s idealized society, it’s every man for himself. Do not help others; they will eventually crawl their way out of the mire, or perish (either way, taxes stay low!).  Small government, anti-tax Republicans love her - even though she was an atheist.

So to the modern Republican Party, ‘Greece’ is shorthand for ‘bad’ and ‘failure’ and Rand is simply fantastic.

But the current situation in Greece is as much a failure of Ayn Rand-like thinking as it is a failure of an over-leveraged nation state.

In Greece, the political and economic elites have always operated under Rand’s central principle of every man for himself.  Consider:

 

• Wealthy Greeks do NOT pay their taxes.  Republicans don’t want to pay taxes, so they’d love Greece.  
• Greek elites such as judges, politicians and regulators always put themselves and their economic self-interest above all else. That’s why bribes are a way of life in Greece. Bribes are seen as a way of increasing your individual wealth rather than seen as weakening the public’s confidence in the nation state or government institutions and accountability.  I got to get mine! Who needs public confidence in the nation state anyway?  Not Republicans. Once again, for the GOP Greece should be the word. 
• Instead of hiring legal, Greek workers, economic elites love to hire and rip off illegal aliens.  Hiring illegal aliens and paying them in cash, off the books and without receipts epitomizes enlightened selfishness. Why pay someone legally, pay taxes and fees on income, or contribute to building a Greek middle class by using union labor when I can save money by hiring (and intimidating) an illegal alien who will work for peanuts?  The bottom line is more important to Ayn Rand Republicans - and Greek business leaders - that building a middle class or certainly unions. 

Those are just 3 examples of why crisis-ridden Greece is a Republican paradise - and the main reasons why Greece is in such trouble.  Maybe the insults will stop. 

Or worse! Maybe folks like Paul Ryan will move to this unbeknown Randian paradise know as modern Greece.

If it weren't for bad luck

Sometimes a person, but in this case an entire country, simply can not catch a break, has absolutely no luck.  


That's true of the Greek state, a nation battered by bad leadership, bad economic problems - and even worse solutions.


Sports is one potential reprieve.  But whereas Friday's spirited fight and 1-1 tie with Poland was inspirational, today's depressing defeat to the Czech Republic was just 'throw up your hands' sad. 


What more can happen to the motherland?  We came out sloppy on defense, victim to a new back line made up of transplanted midfielders and a new goalie. The Czechs immediately took advantage of Greece's awkward back line to score two quick goals within the first seven minutes (a EURO record, BTW).


Our back line was weak, our goal keeper Halkias even weaker. The second goal in particular simply and sloppily squirted right past him.  Bad luck defense, bad goal keeping.


Like they did versus Poland, things proceeded to get a little worse. With five minutes left in the first half Ellas scored, but the goal was negated by another bad call - this time a terrible offsides call.  It's soccer's worst and most inconsistently called rule, and it stung the inventors of civilization today.


Greece did admirably fight back in the second half, and Fanis Gekas punched in a misplayed ball by Czech goalie Peter Cheh to cut the lead in half early in the second period. Despite outplaying the Czech Republic squad for the final 50 minutes Greece could get no closer, and lost a crucial game today.


All is not lost.  If Greece manages to defeat Russia and if the Czechs defeat the Poles the motherland could advance to the knock out round.


Greece miraculously won EURO 2004; no one expects a repeat of that improbably championship. However, it would be nice to see Greece win a game or two, or at least not run into so much bad luck, bad goal keeping, and tough calls from the refs.   But I guess when you are on a country-wide losing streak, complete with double digit unemployment, a 3-year long recession, record deficits, and a mean spirited and ineffective austerity plan' that's simply too much bad juju and bad karma for the Greek soccer team to overcome. 


Our Ethniki has admirably shown some fight at EURO 2012.  Let's hope the team - and of course the nation - is rewarded for that effort against Russia on Saturday.

Maybe Football DOES Explain Everything

Yesterday's post pointed out how, contrary to one book's title, soccer does NOT explain the world.


But today's 1-1 tie between host Poland and the motherland was practically a microcosm of Greece's current plight. 


Facing the host nation in the Euro 2012 opener, Greece came out with what appeared to be a mixture of lethargy, sluggishness and even disinterest.  The players on the pitch vividly, too vividly, represented the populace of a proud nation whose citizens have been worn down by recession, unemployment, incompetence and pessimism.


Less than 20 minutes in, Greece trailed 0-1 after Poland took advantage of our goal keeper getting out of position; was it a metaphor for Greece's out of whack accounting ledgers? 


Things got even worse - believe it or not - when Sokratis Papastathopoulos was forced to swallow the equivalent of hemlock when we was given two highly highly dubious yellow cards (which equals a red card) and was ejected.  


So Greece was cheated by a referee and after the ejection were reduced to 10 players - a metaphor for austerity?


The combination of lethargy and being a player down resulted in Greece being thoroughly outplayed in the first half, and down 0-1 after 45 minutes.


But then, improbably and hopefully, some rays of hope emerged.

One, instead of giving in to the notorious Greek fatalism the Hellenes fought back.  Led by second half substitute Dimitris Salpingidis - the best player during the qualifying round of EURO 2012 - Ellas was much more aggressive and active.


Salpingidis was rewarded for his effort when he scored the equalizer less than 15 minutes into the second half after he poked in a rebound off a header from Fanis Gekas.  Despite being down a man Greece had come back and tied it.


The good fortune continued in the second half when the Polish goalie was given a red card for taking down Salpingidis in front of their goal.  


Of course, we are talking about Greeks here, a peoples who seldom do a good job with good fortune (for instance, we get the Olympic games but they help bankrupt the country; after World War I we're given half a loaf of Asia Minor but blow it trying to conquer the entire loaf, etc. etc.).


Today, that turned into George Karagounis, the Greek captain and a hero of the 2004 European champions, failing to convert a point-blank penalty kick.  Though we were down a man, we should have scored there and won the game.


Ten minutes later, Greece's bad luck struck again when a iffy off sides penalty was called against Kostas Fortounis - a Greek footballer who plays where else, in Germany - and negated another potential goal from Salpingidis. 


What a game.


Greece, a country battered by their own political incompetence and punished with a draconian austerity plan imposed by their European partners, fielded a team that had their own battles against a partisan home crowd, a bad referee who called two crazy yellow cards, a 10-player squad for most of the game, and a tight off sides call that negated the potential game-winning goal - yet still managed a tie and thus a point against Poland.  


Being down a player seemed to inspire fight rather than fatalism.  It was a proud nation showing admirable fight and pride in the face of adversity.  


I think all Greeks, members of the Greek diaspora, and phil-Hellenes hope that kind of fight continues in Euro 2012 but also inspires our motherland to do the same.


Zito H Ellas!

• Greece's next game is Tuesday at noon against the Czech Republic. The Czech's were demolished 1-4 against our Orthodox brothers from Russia today.  
• If Greece plays 90 minutes versus the Czechs the way they fought in the second half today I love our chances.  Greece was on the attack in the second half, and made a great comeback.
• Kudos to ESPN's crew for their Hellenism.  
• One, Greek-American Alexi Lalas proudly talked about the Greek squad in the pre-game show, complete with excellent Greek language skills pronouncing the long Greek last names.
• Two, ESPN's Ian Dark pointed out the many Greek Communists settled in Poland after their side lost the Greek civil war. Excellent historical note!
• Finally, three, Bob Ley summed up 2,500 years of Greek history when he said in the post-game shpw: "Sometimes your good, sometimes your lucky, sometimes your Greek."

Greece Still in the Euro . . . 2012 Football Championships

Greece will be in the Euro for at least one more month as the Ethniki Omada (national team) compete in the 2012 Europe Football Championship, the second most prestigious title in world football.  Greece kicks off the tournament Friday at noon eastern when they take one of the two (racist?) host nations, Poland, in group A (to be fair to Poland, the real racists appear to be in the other host country, Ukraine). The game will be shown live on ESPN.


Since World War II there have been 3 significant events in Greece.  One is the restoration of democracy after six years under the junta in 1973.  Two is Greece's entry into the European Union in 1980.  And three is the sporting events of 2004, a year that saw Athens host the Olympic Games and the motherland some how win the 2004 European Championship.


That 2004 title is one of the improbable in the history of sports. It's Villanova beating Georgetown in 1985, or Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson.  Consider that prior to 2004 Greece had NEVER WON A GAME in an international football tournament, let alone a title.


Of course, 2004 was the good old days in Greece.  The country was flush with money, some borrowed and some donated by the EU, to build new Olympic facilities, up grade ports and build a new airport (which is efficient but styleless, but what do you expect when you pick a German architect to build it?), dramatically expand the Athens Metro system (which was a huge success), and build new hotels.  


We visited in 2005, a year later, and the pride in their city was evident from every Athenian we talked to.  


Now we know the back story: that the government in power in 2004 and 2005 had been cooking the books and lying to the EU about Greece's deficit spending for years; the wealthy (who supported the conservative New Democracy government) continued to NOT pay their taxes; and the deficit got larger and larger and larger - and Greece's standard of living was not sustainable.


What a difference 8 years makes.  Greece was riding high in both sport and society in 2004.  Heading into Euro 2012 it's doubtful that this year's team can repeat that magic, or how long the motherland will even be in the euro zone once the Euro tournament ends the first week of July.


A few more EURO 2012 notes

• There is some good juju for Greece's team, however.  In 2004, Greece opened the tournament by beating the host nation Portugal 2-1 to put the tournament on notice.  Once again, Greece opens the entire tournament by playing the host nation.  If Ellas wins 2-1 again watch out!
• Why would you award EURO 2012 to Ukraine in the first place? Racist behavior by their fans has been a long-standing problem there, to say nothing of the performance of the Quisling government in Ukraine during World War II.
• During the 2010 World Cup, I read "How Soccer Explains the World." It was a fun read, but it was also depressing.  It should be called "How Soccer HELPS PERPETUATE SOME PROBLEMS IN the World.'  Chapter after chapter talk about soccer rivalries that serve as proxies for ethnic or political or racist strife and tensions in Serbia (Nazi collaborators vs. partisans), Scotland (Catholics vs. Protestants), Spain (fascists vs. Catalonian nationalists), etc.  I guess we can expect a new chapter or editor's note on new Ukrainian racism in the next edition.  

Anarchy

Is it ironic to write about anarchy, especially if you are not using spray paint?

I'm a few days late blogging on this topic, one that bookended the Saturday Washington Post. Of course, Greece was once again on the front page with an article on the rise of the anarchist movement in Europe but especially in the motherland.

Though a punk rocker from way back, at least 1981, I was never into anarchy that much. It might have been okay for the U.K. and the Sex Pistols, but I was too much of a socialist punk rocker, with a soft spot for government programs and public projects funded by progressive taxation (so maybe I was a Keynesian punk rocker) to see the appeal of anarchy as an ideology or world view.

The irony here is that many punks in England, especially the Pistols, hated the welfare state and it's leveling and blandness (even the national health service!).  There were other punks, like The Clash, who were more leftist/Marxists/populists/etc.  and in the U.S. most punks of that era were very left, following the anti-corporate, anti-Reagan, and anti-hippie credo of The Dead Kennedys and others (I may be overgeneralizing here, but that was my experience).

So I liked the state too much to be an anarchist, but also you simply can't trust anarchy, and more importantly the mob mentality that usually accompanies it.  I can't imagine anarchy is the best way to accomplish anything progressive, so it's odd to think it's popularity is on the rise in Europe.

One of the great political paradoxes is 'without order there is no freedom."  Or justice for that matter.  The rule of law, just law, is more important and more liberating than anarchy. 

A vivid example of that truism was also in The Post on Saturday, in my main man Colbert King's column on the Freedom Riders.   King brutally reminded us the cost of anarchy. In the south in the 50s and 60s there was anarchy.  The mob ruled, the police looked the other way, and in the anarchy that followed African-Americans and members of the civil rights movement were terrorized.  

His column is just one, small, snap shot of how the white power structure reacted to the civil rights movement, and took advantage of the lack of the rule of law, of anarchy.  

A year ago anarchists in Greece fire bombed a bank, killing 3 employees including a pregnant woman.  That incident prompted Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to state "protest is one thing, murder is another."

The U.S. has learned a lot from the Greeks.  Greek youth, the most active participants in the 'We won't pay' movement, have plenty of reasons to have little-to-no faith in Greek political structure. But they should learn from the U.S. in this case.  

All the great leftist victories in the U.S., from winning the Civil War to labor to civil rights, have relied on citizens insisting on a just application of the law and our democratic values.  Despite the anarchy, the civil rights movement eventually won (legall; within 10 years legal racism had been defeated).  But it was a disciplined, organized movement. 

The 'We won't pay' movement and others like them should focus on organizing around democratic values, not on promoting anarchy.

Back to Gary Williams

The retirement of Gary Williams was ALMOST as big a story in DC as was the killing of Osama bin Laden.  In fact, it may have been more bipartisan, since Williams was a fairly well known Republican and is friends with former Republican Maryland governor Bob Ehrlich, and Republicans hated giving the President credit for bringing bin Laden to justice.

Even if he is a Republican, one has to respect Gary Williams' career at Maryland.  It's easy to forget how bad Maryland basketball was when Williams took over his alma mater's basketball program.  Not only did Williams come back to a school that was on probation and was still haunted by the 1984 cocaine death of Len Bias, he gave up a choice job at a big time school, the Ohio State University.  

He loved Maryland enough to leave a school most coaches would dream of retiring from to take over a program in the toilet.  Have to respect that kind of loyalty and - though it's a cliche - school spirit.

And you have to respect - maybe not agree but respect - his stubborn refusal to recruit kids associated with AAU teams, posses, and hangers on.  Instead of pursuing local superstars like Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay and Ty Lawson (just 3 of the great local players who grew up within 20 minutes of College Park) Williams favored 'coaching up' non-blue chip players like Juan Dixon and Lonnie Baxter, guys who won him  and his school a national championship in 2002.  

In retrospect, Williams probably should have recruited more kids like Durant and Lawson, two generally modest kids (unlike Gay, who played for an almost notorious AAU team in high school) instead of relying on developing diamonds in the rough like Dixon.  After all, a reliance on those players resulted in Maryland falling on semi-hard times since 2002, missing the NCAA tournament more times than they made it since winning it all. 

But we're quibbling now.  Williams left a great job to rescue his alma mater's basketball program, and though he didn't turn College Park in the "UCLA of the East" he did win a national championship while doing it his way.  Not a bad summation of any career.

A few more hoops notes

One notable player Williams developed was Drew Nicholas, a reserve on the 2002 team and a second-team All-ACC player his senior year in College Park.  Over the weekend Nicholas helped lead Greek-favorite team Panathinaikos to the 2011 Euroleague championship over Maccabi of Israel.  It was Pana's sixth Euroleague title, signifying the best professional team on the Continent, and third in the last 5 years.

The 'Octopus Man,' Dimitri Diamantidis,  was named both the Euroleague AND Euroleague Final Four most valuable player.  Diamantidis had double-doubles in both of Panathinaikos' final four wins over the weekend.   He's now in his late 20s, but of all the modern Greek basketball players he would have been a good-to-great NBA player.  Diamantidis is a long, athletic player and can run the point and hit some threes, but who would have made his mark in the League as a defender, kind of a Hellenic Stacey Augman or James Posey or Luol Deng.

Nicholas scored 14 points and led an 11-3 run in the third quarter to give the Greens a lead they would not relinquish on their way to the title.   Panathinaikos was lead by Mike Batiste's 17 points; Batiste played at Arizona State and had a cup of coffee with the Memphis Grizzlies before landing in Greece.

Another former Grizzlies player, Antonis Fotsis, had a nice game including a nasty dunk during the Nicholas-led run in the third.  I wish Fotsis had staying in the League more than one year; athletically he could have stuck around but he has thrived in Athens with Panathinaikos - and has won three championships there.

Of course, who currently plays for the Grizzlies?  Greivis Vasquez, a gritty and under-talented high school player who went on to win ACC player of the year, a non-blue chip player currently earning a living hooping it up in the NBA playoffs, developed by Gary Williams.

Why We Travel

I think I have some post-Parthenon depression – which may explain the glass of ouzo I'm sipping tonight. While happy to be back in Washington I still can’t stop thinking about our recent trip to Greece.  A trip to Greece this summer is unlikely and practically impossible, but I need to start planning ahead for next summer or even a spring break trip for Evan next year. 

After all, I have still only ever been in three countries – and that’s counting the United States.  For the record, besides Greece and America the United Kingdom rounds out my unworldly itinerary; I’m not counting using the W.C. during a refueling stop in Dublin in 1978, or changing planes in Paris two years ago – though we did spend 2 hours there in one stretch and I bought a French candy bar made with I think slugs – or Frankfurt last week since we spent most of our time in Deutschland either in line at customs or in a Starbucks.

Nothing would please me more than to go somewhere oversees – to a new continent - every other summer.  Chile, Mexico, Malaysia, Ghana (wimping out and going stable in Africa) or South Africa, France, Italy and of course regular trips back to Greece.  Need to get serious about this plan and come up with a ‘winning the lottery’ strategy soon.

Greeks and Germans

After flying Lufthansa and spending a week in Greece seemingly surrounded by Germans it boggles my mind that anyone could have ever thought that these jokers were the master race. 

The Germans are certainly good at some things – I mean good things like making cars and washing machines.  At one point in the their history their trains reportedly ran on time (this trip their planes did NOT).

And now they have made countries like Greece, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, parts of Italy, etc. slaves to the(ir) common currency.  Granted, some of those wounds, especially in the case Greece, were self-inflicted but often times the device was provided by Germans.

Germany’s economic dominance must really get under the skin of people like the Greeks, French and Italians (we know it bothers the Brits; that’s one reason they’ve seen the Euro but are sticking with the Pound).  For though good at manufacturing the Germans have very little style or grace.  Their language demonstrates that quite vividly.

But the way they dress, in a pseudo and un-convincing American style (ugly jeans, goofy t-shirts, blouses with all manners of gee-gaws for the women, etc.), the way they eat (if any group is more embarrassing to behold at an all-you-can-eat hotel breakfast bar than Americans it is the Germans; they hoard, and eat with their mouth open; put a sock in it Wilhelm!), and the way they act must give more civilized peoples pause.

What does a citizen of France think when they see a German stuffing their face with cooked Vienna sausages?  What does a Hellene think about when they hear an unsmiling German complain about their hotel room?  I know an American thinks these folks are crazy to have bought into the notion that they were the master race.

Trip to Epidauros

I touched on it briefly in my last post, but I really dug our day trip to Epidauros.  I finally posted the video from there on my Facebook page.

Modern Greece was the bookends, with the glory of Greece in the middle.

Our day started in the Athens bus station; we were planning on taking a ferry to the nearby island of Poros but the weather kept us on land.  The buses in Greece are clean and modern and comfortable, but as you can imagine the bus station was a different story. It was a fairly grungy place with an incredible range of people, from well-off Athenians traveling to their home villages to lots of beggars and immigrant vendors hawking all kinds of bootleg stuff. The saddest had to be the four or five-year old Albanian accordion player going table to table. The poverty and want really freaked Ariadne out a bit.  We were both relieved when the bus for Nafplion left on time (actually two minutes early – in Greece!).

The bus ride back was pretty mellow.  The bus was only half full, with many immigrants from Albania and south Asia on the ride back to Athens.  The new multi-cultural Greece was on display there and back.

From the bus station we end up in Nafplion, one of Greece's loveliest towns.  After lunch on the main square - I had a fantastic pizza looking out on the first capital of building of modern Greece - we were able to do a little shopping for worry beads.  There’s even a worry bead museum in Nafplion.  If I do win the lottery, I would seriously consider buying a house in Nafplion.  

We then took another bus to Epidauros (no poverty at the Nafplion station, just a few guys playing backgammon). 

Ariadne and I arrived in Epidauros to find the theater overrun with two bus loads of American high school students. Their chaperons were very impressed by the acoustics of the theater but their students were primarily interested in running up and down the aisles and yelling down at their classmates on the stage. Most of them had it backwards; you can hear someone whisper on the stage from the top of the theater NOT the other way around.

Then magically they got in their buses and left us alone. Ariadne and I had the place to our selves, with just birds and bugs in the background, which was magical.  The acoustics are so clear and perfect that you can feel your voice bounce back on you when you speak from the stage.  The video I took doesn’t capture that effect, but it was impressive and worth the trip through the bus station.

I thought about the bus station and Epidauros as I read Paul Theroux's essay in today's New York Times on the everlasting virtues of travel.  Despite the TSA restrictions, the cramped seating in coach, Germans and poverty and bus loads of kids, it's worth it.  Sign me up for another trip (after someone sends me the winning lottery numbers).

Another visit to the White House

I was fortunate to represent the Sierra Club this afternoon at the White House's unveiling of their 'America's Great Outdoors' report.  

Hard to objectively assess the event.  Though I'm a semi-cynical 48-year old it was still a genuine thrill to visit the White House and be in the same room as the President of the United States, especially this President.   

It wasn't as exciting as my last visit, when the President signed the omnibus lands bill into law and added more than 2 million acres of new public land to America's great - and protected - outdoors - but it was still a great time.

The ceremony itself was relatively short, probably 20 to 25 minutes.  But the President gave a great speech.  And for a lobbyist it was awesome; a chance to talk with senior Administration officials from all the federal land agencies, environmental grant makers, and coalition partners from conservation and environmental organizations (including my next door neighbor John Kostyack from NWF, which meant that wo residents of the 3800-block of Alton Place NW were in the White House today; that may not have been the first time that happened since many of our neighbors are reporters).

Anyway, it was a great day for a great event celebrating America's Great Outdoors, an initiative the Sierra Club has been very active in ever since it was announced in April 2010 (the link is to the report the Lands team delivered to the Obama Administration in August 2010).  

I liked the White House so much I almost left my coat in the coat check room - on purpose - so I'd have an excuse to go back tomorrow.  I tweeted that from the event and did not hear a thing from the Secret Service.  So much for the Patriot Act - "Mr. President, the tweet is coming from inside the White House!"

Carolina - Hellenic Tie In

The visit to White House is also part of a plan to win Carolina it's third national championship in seven seasons.  

As I mentioned above, the last time I visited the White House was in March 2009, one week before the Heels romped to their 5th national championship.  That summer we also went to Greece.  We also went to Greece in 2005, when Roy Williams won his first and Carolina's fourth championship.

I'm not taking any chances this year.  I went to the White House today, and Ariadne* and I are going to Greece for a 5-day visit during her spring break (and a conveniently-timed Congressional recess) in March.  So if the pattern holds and we win our 6th NCAA championship in a month don't thank Roy or Harrison Barnes or John Henson - thank this blog.

* To show Evan some love - and put a cherry on top of the Carolina-Hellenic sundae - I am taking him and his cousin Paul to the Carolina-BC game in Chapel Hill this weekend.

AmeriGO HEELS!

Diabetes in Greece

Greece has always juggled the west and the east.  For a while, actually a long while, basically from the conquests of Alexander the Great and the founding of Alexandria in 350 BC to the fall of Constantinople in 1453 (an 1,800 year run; for contrast the Tea Party threatens to end our run after only 235 years) the Hellenes pulled it off.

But now Greece can't win for losing.  

In 1980, Greece officially joined the west when it became a member of the European Union. It may sound odd to think of the founders of western civilization as joining the west but Greece has historically looked east. Consider everything from defeating the Persians to Alexander the Great spreading Hellenic values and culture as far east as India to the melding of Greek and Egyptian cultures in Alexandria to the eastern Roman empire based in Constantinople, all those things happened facing east.  Combine that orientation with unhappy events that came from the west: the conquest of Constantinople by the Catholic crusaders of the Fourth crusade in 1204 - the event that really started fostering Greece's anti-western bias - and the perceived western favoritism towards the Ottoman Empire in opposition to an independent Greek state.  In modern times,  US and NATO support for the Colonels during the military dictatorship from 1967 to 1973, and similar support for Turkey during their 1974 invasion of Cyprus, re-enforced Greek mistrust of the west.

That ambiguity was finally settled when Greece joined the EU in 1980. And Greece has benefited from being part of the EU. Since 1980, EU money has flowed into Greece in the form of funding for infrastructure and farm subsidies, and in increased tourism and the construction of vacation or second homes for prosperous northern Europeans.  Bottom line, the country is much more modern than it was in the 1970s, and after decades of exporting people it now imports people from poorer parts of the region, not just the Balkans but from the Middle East and north and west Africa.

But Greece has suffered, too.  Parts of Greece look like the worst of Florida, with cheap hotels full of sun burnt tourist wandering from taverna to t shirt shop in a bloated holiday stupor.    

And now we find out the vaunted - and healthy - traditional Greek diet is taking a hit.  I found out this week that almost 9 percent of Greeks have type II diabetes, a shocking number but even worse when you consider that 20 years ago the disease was unheard of there.  That's how quickly the Greek diet has changed from healthy - primarily due to 160 days of fasting in conjunction with the Greek Orthodox calender and a lower living standard - to a western junk and processed food one.  

Greeks also used to shop at local shops for fresh food - from bakers, butchers, etc.  But supermarkets - full of processed food - are taking over in Greek cities and villages. 

The Greek lifestyle has changed as well.  As it is in the American south, where for decades folks stayed healthy even when eating a fried foot diet, both Greeks and southerners no longer do much hard, physical, historically-rural work.  Like Americans, most Greeks live in cities and work at a desk or behind a cash register at a tourism-related business.  

Finally, junk and processed food - potato chips, ice cream and candy bars, sugar soda - is everywhere in Greece.  Greek life is so western that Ariadne and Evan don't actually notice much difference between the U.S. and the motherland.  I just asked them to compare Athens and Washington, and Greek like with American life, and Evan said "Athens is a lot older" and that "Greeks eat a lot more food and spent more time eating" than Americans.  Ariadne said she wished "we had siesta time in America," noted that neither city has big sky scrapers, and though Athens is not as clean as Washington it is much cleaner than New York.  


Joining the EU and the west has been a huge win for Greece. Even with the current economic crisis Ellas has never been this prosperous.  Hard to believe that Greece survived the 4th Crusade, the Ottoman Empire, and a military dictatorship but may lose out potato chips and ice cream. 


A Few Random Thoughts

•  One reason things are kind of looking up in Greece is increased foreign investment.  Cosco, the Chinese trading company, has signed a 35-year deal to run the port of Pireas, a deal that will bring in billions of dollars.  Qatar is also investing heavily in Greece's energy infrastructure. Greece and Turkey are starting to cooperate with green energy companies to build a new, regional, energy grid.
• And the French are going as nuts as the Greeks did in reacting to an increase of the retirement age there so we are no longer on the front page.
• Finally, since I brought them up I do want to point out that: Evan hit a triple in his game on Saturday, a line drive that reached the warning track in the air, and Ariadne has a A- minus average so far in the first trimester, with her lowest grade a B.

Whistling Past the Trade Deadline/Graveyard

The good news for Washington sports fans is the Nationals did not trade Adam Dunn.  Sure, the Nats aren't going to make a run at the wild card this season, but Dunn is a nice guy to have around while you rebuild your franchise and fan base.

Not only does he practically guarantee 35 to 40 homers every season, which is quite a luxury to have, but he appears to be a good club house guy, too.  Two great reasons to keep Dunn around.

And unlike the deals that dealt Matt Capps to the Twins and Christian Guzman (finally, the last of Jim Bowden's mistakes is erased) to the Rangers, trading Dunn would have demoralized an already demoralized fan base.

So Nats fans mad it past the trade deadline.

In Greece, things aren't as good.  I assume Greeks and Greek labor unions thought that they could whistle past the economic graveyard during this summer's tourist season.  I think every Greek hoped that despite all the negative economic news of the spring tourists would still visit the cradle of civilization this summer.  

But as usual, Greece is trying to slit its own throat.  First, the country saw massive and violent street protests in June over budget and spending cuts.  The nadir came when anarchists firebombed a bank and three employees died as a result.

The Greek public's disgust at the three deaths effectively stopped street protests.

However, some labor unions continue to take a razor to their country's neck.  First, in early July, dock workers in Pireas went on strike to protest new work rules and increased hours.  The strike lasted so long that Princess Cruise Lines decided to move their Mediterranean base from Greece to . . .  Istanbul.  Losing tourism jobs is bad enough, especially for a country that needs all the hard currency it can generate, but to lose it to Turkey?  Terrible.

Unfortunately, it doesn't stop there.  This week, fuel truck drivers have gone on strike, crippling bus and plane service throughout the country.  The travel gridlock further damages Greece's tourism industry.  The strike lasted so long that today the Greek government authorized the police and army to seize fuel trucks in the national interest and deliver the fuel.

Labor has the right to strike, but do it wisely - not during tourist season and NOT when the country is broke.  Striking Greek workers remind me of the right wingers here in the U.S. - both groups assume someone is lying to them, and have trouble with fact-based reality.  When the Greek government says they are broke the unions don't believe them, or when Obama show his birth certificate or cuts taxes for 90% of Americans our right-wing boobs assume the media is colluding with the White House to fool the public.

Ellas Did!

Did not see that coming, but a red card changes everything.  Zito h Ellas!

Clearly the red card against Nigeria, one that was deserved since the players were out of bounds AND he showed his spikes, changed the momentum of the game after Greece gave up another early and weak goal.  But the best part of the game for me was that Greece attacked.  

Red card or no red card, Ellas deserved to win that game.

My soccer high is muted by the horrible foul/off sides/whatever call versus the U.S. late in their game versus Slovakia.

The U.S. came out with purpose in the second half - and unlike Greece did not need a red card to wake up the team's competitive spirit.  We took it to Slovenia (which sounds weird considering we have 300 million people and Slovenia is the size of Connecticut) in the second half and deserved a win instead of a tie.

As folks know, the frustrating thing about the Greek team is their fatalism and inability to fight back.  For the U.S. the flat starts are equally vexing.  How a team playing on a stage like the World Cup can come out flat is beyond me.  

Perhaps it's as simple as the line up.  At halftime coach Bob Bradley replaced Findley and Torres, and the U.S. was much better with Feilhaber and Edu in the lineup.  I guess we'll see next week when we play a critical match against Algeria, who surprisingly tied England today.

Our group is still wide open.  The good news is the U.S. controls its destiny.   A win over the former French colony means we advance to the knock out round.  

Greece, as it is with its huge debt, needs help to advance. But Ellas can still make it out of the group stage.  Best bet for Greece is that Ellas ties Argentina (doable since the Albicelestes may rest their best players after clinching their group with the rout of South Korea), and a win by Nigeria, playing for pride, over Korea. That would leave Argentina with 7 points (assuming a tie), Greece with 4, with Korea and Nigeria with 3.

So go USA, Greece, and Nigeria!

Big sports weekend

A good sports week keep rolling this weekend, with Greece playing South Korea and the US taking on England in the World Cup tomorrow, Evan's Tigers playing for third place (unfortunately at the same time the US is playing), topped off with Strasburg's second start of the season. Oh yeah, game 5 of the NBA Finals, too.

I'm excited about the World Cup.  If Greece hopes to advance out of their group they have to beat South Korea.  Getting 3 points in the biggest meeting of Greece and Korea since the Private Charles Lamb episode of M*A*S*H is a must for Ellas.  Well, not really a must - a win over Nigeria is doable, too - but getting points tomorrow certainly is.  If Greece loses advancing will be very difficult.  Either, it's a mega game for Ellas.


The game is on the big screen in DuPont Circle, but a 7:30 kickoff likely means I will watch it from home (of course, if anyone is definitely going to DuPont tomorrow let me know).


But Greece Korea pales compared to US v. England.  I think we've got a chance of tying the Knights of Saint George, primarily due to our better goal keeping.  Tim Howard plays in the EPL so that should help.  


The US can lose and still advance out of their group; we're better than Algeria and Slovakia. The tilt versus the 3 Lions will be a great measuring stick for the US team even if we don't pick up points.  But here's betting that we pick up a point in a very exciting tie.


I didn't see much of the two ties today, between South Africa and Mexico, and France versus Uruguay, but the first one was a good game to watch and the second one made me a fan of Uruguay. Really hard to root for France this year despite their excellent national anthem.


Evan's last game of the season is tomorrow.  We thought his Tigers could win the Minor League title this year, but the team really stunk up the joint on Wednesday night so it's on to the consolation game.  The good news is that Evan had fun playing baseball this season, and was called up to the Majors twice.  


Finally, can't wait for Strasburg's next start on Sunday versus the Indians.  And now, after tonight's humbling loss to Manny Acta's Indians, taking the next 2 games of the series is even more important.  Adding insult to injury tonight was Austin Kearn's two homers against the Nats.  When a Jim Bowden Reds reject beats you it's a tough night.


On to the World Cup!

Blogging Locally AND Globally

This summer is shaping up to be a good one, at least in the non-oil spill world.  
I'm not talking about the NBA Finals, which features two unlikable teams.  How unlikable is the Celtics franchise?  Even with Ra playing a prominent role I STILL can't root for the Cs.  


But can I really root 'for' the Lakers?  No.  

James Worthy played for the Lakers, so I guess I'd rather see the Cs lose.


But my summer will be spent following our resurgent Nats - with Steven Strasburg in town next week - and the World Cup - with my two favorite countries playing.


Nats Notes


How nice to have a real baseball team.  A 26-26 record one-third of the way into the season is cause for celebration enough, even better with Strasburg on the horizon.


For comparison, the Nats were 26-61 last year.  61 losses! 


The irony of Strasburg charging up this season is that the Nats' pitching has been pretty good. Livan Hernandez has been rejuvenated, John Lannan and Scott Olson (though his is currently fighting off shoulder problems) have turned their seasons around, and unheralded Luis Atalano has been above average.  Strasburg will likely take Craig Stammen's place, giving the Nats a pretty impressive starting rotation.


The bullpen, at least Burnett, Clippard and especially Matt Capps, has been excellent.  


The Nats' offense and defense have been bigger issues.  The middle of the order has been solid offensively, but Nyjer Morgan has been pretty weak at the top of the order, and has been equally bad in the field of late.


Manager Jim Riggleman dropped Morgan to second last night - with Guzman leading off - and the Nationals scored 14 runs, so maybe the batting order reordering will get the offense on track. 

But I'm not crazy about either of those guys, neither of whom walk much, at the top of the order. Instead of just flip flopping Guzman and Morgan, I'd move rookies Roger Bernandina and Ian Desmond to the top of the order and see how that works.

Finally, look for the Nats to go on a few more mini-winning streaks once Ivan Rodriguez returns from the DL. As great as Strasburg's arrival will be, getting Pudge back will probably be a bigger deal in the won-loss column. 


A few more Nats notes:

• I like the Nats' radio guys a lot.  Both Charlie Sloss and Dave Jaegler do a nice job.  On TV, Rob Dibble is not good; he doesn't do his homework and talks about himself a lot.  Rob Carpenter is a competent play-by-play man.  He's a little clichéd, but did make a surprising Simpsons reference the other night.
• The dude I love listening to is Ray Knight. He mainly does the pre- and post-game shows, but when he's in the booth as the color man he's excellent.  He doesn't hold back on the praise or the criticism.
• One snarky comment:  Manny Acta, who led the Nats to their 26-61 mark last year, is currently managing the Indians to a 19-31 record. So he's 45 and 92 in the last two seasons, a year after a 102-loss season for the Nats.  He must be really charming in the interview.

World Cup Fever 

I'm surprisingly geeked up about the pending World Cup. Maybe it's the fact that both the US and Greece are in, the spectacle, the event being in Africa, or the cool Bono-narrated ads, but either way I'm excited.


Both America and Ellas should advance out their group.  We have a very doable and exciting group.  The US kicks off with a potentially intriguing match versus England.  If we can hang with Knights of St. George it should give the US squad quite a bit of confidence.  But no matter what happens versus England the US should handle Slovenia and Algeria, and advance to the round of 16.


Greece has a tougher group, with Argentina the favorite.  Greece has been pretty uninspiring since running the table and winning the 2004 European Championship in one of the biggest upsets in sports.  Greece will get outclassed by Argentina, but I bet Ellas will defeat both Nigeria and South Korea (or at least win one and tie one) to advance out of their group.  

Neither of those nations play an attacking style of football, so look for Greece's defense to keep both Nigeria and South Korea from scoring.  Conversely, as we did in 2004, Greece will do enough from set pieces to win/ties, and pick up 4 to 6 points and advance.


One cynical note. Having the World Cup in Africa, especially South Africa, is a tribute to Nelson Mandela.  And holding the event in Africa for the first time is also recognition that the continent is making strides towards stability and progress. 


But is it really a celebration of Africa when the World Cup is held in one of the two countries that used to be ruled, and an infrastructure built, by a racist, apartheid regime? On the other hand, South Africa has faired much, much better since majority rule was established than Zimbabwe has, a testament to the confident, wise, and strong leadership of Mandela.  

However, an event like the World Cup will truly be a celebration for Africa if it's held in Addis Ababa (my favorite since Ethiopia is the only African nation never to be have colonized by Europeans) or Abidjan (home of Didier Drogba and probably the most prosperous city in west Africa) or Lagos (largest city in what should be the wealthiest country in west Africa) - or Harare - rather than South Africa.

Accountability

Lots of things to mull over regarding accountability in today's Sunday papers, both in Greece and here in the US.


Regarding Greece, accountability has never been a virtue at least in modern times.  Ancient Athens did hold folks accountable. Every year they would vote on among other things who they wanted to expel from the city.  Names were written on a broken piece of pottery - that's what 'ostracism' means, broken pottery - and who ever got the most votes had to leave Athens.


But in modern Greece accountability is very weak.  After the doomed invasion of central Asia Minor after World War I - Greece was given northwestern Asia Minor including Smyrna in recognition of ethnic Greek majorities there and for being on the winning side of that war, but overdid it by invading central Turkey and getting their butts kicked and expelled, with many civilians massacred - members of the military were held accountable but not the royalist rulers who ordered the invasion.


After the Nazi's withdrew from Greece at the end of World War II, the collaborators who governed the nation were never prosecuted or even fired.  The Greek resistance was led by the left, including many Communists.  The collaborators who worked with the Nazi's told the Brits and Americans who entered the newly liberated Greece that they should be kept in place to fight the Communists.  The US and UK said okay, and a civil war took place when the left (resistance) and right (collaborators) could not work out a political agreement.


I think Greece is the only country in Nazi-occupied Europe that did not prosecute or at least disqualify from running for office Greek quislings.


That legacy is alive in well in Greece, and you see it in everything from the comical way Greeks park on the side walk, knowing that they can't get towed (the streets are too narrow) and there are no consequences for not paying a ticket. 


And there are serious problems for the state when thousands if not millions of Greeks fail to pay income taxes. The low payment of income taxes - some estimate that 40 percent of Greeks do not file income tax returns - severely hurts a country famously trying to solve a serious economic crisis and pay their bills, obligations and fund their generous pensions.


That lack of accountability and the belief that not everyone is playing by the rules is one reason Greeks are so cynical about their own nation, and why Greece is in serious financial trouble.


Here in the US we face some similar issues with Wall Street. Frank Rich talked about the need for more accountability for Wall Street and the Fed today in the NY Times.  In his column Rich does not relate the problems with both to Hellenism, but he does point out that guys like Alan Greenspan sound very Greek: none of this is my fault!


One reason accountability is important is to get history right.  If no one is held accountable for their actions the bad guys will try to spin their way out of the blame, witness what Greenspan and Robert Rubin told investigators last week.


And look at Virginia declaring April 'Confederate History Month' without talking about slavery.  The apologists for the Civil War keep talking about states rights instead of slavery - or the more elemental fact that the south did not want to be part of the US, the nation of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. They chose to defend and fight for slavery and reject the two greatest documents and ideals ever put to paper, the ideals that define the United States.


But even if slavery never existed, does it make sense to celebrate taking up arms against the American flag and Constitution?  No matter what you were defending, doing that makes you one thing, a traitor.  Why does Virginia (and other states like South Carolina) want to celebrate that?


During Reconstruction the U.S. did hold ex-Confederates accountable; Jefferson Davis for instance was arrested and served two years in prison.  He and other former Confederates where prohibited from running for office or joining the US military.  After 12 years Reconstruction ended (in part to settle the deadlocked presidential election of 1876).  Once Reconstruction ended - and US troops left - the south quickly moved to enact Jim Crow laws and disenfranchise ex-slaves.  Public sentiment in the north was indifferent, so they got away with it.  The U.S. government just gave up on Reconstruction, so I guess in addition to accountability you need persistence.