Gunter Wallraf, father of undercover journalism, defender of human rights and immigrant rights, now turns his sights against supermarket chains and exposes the dark side of consumerism.See the video:http://www.zeit.de/2008/19/Wallraff-19This Giant was once arrested and tortured by my country's dictatorship, back in 1974 when he had the idea to protest in favour of human rights, by chaining himself to an electricity post next to the parliament, in Syntagma square (Constitution square) of Athens, handing out leaflets, and deliberately carrying no ID papers on him, so that he would be considered a Greek and certainly be detained.In his appearance in the court, he pointed out the ignorance/indifference of Tourists then visiting Greece about the ugliness of the dictatorship, and he attributed it to lack of information in the press.He was sentenced to 14 months, but was released in 3 months as the regime collapsed.How many tourists today visit similar regimes, just to bask...

BBC reports a quite surreal campaign by a publisher of a history magazine to change the name of the "Gay & Lesbian Community of Greece" on the grounds that the name 'offends' the inhabitants of the greek island of Lesbos. If successful he then wants to take on the use of the word worldwide. A court will hear the case on June 10 and will most probably dismiss it as it should. How short-sighted (indeed for a historian) in terms of what is in the real interest of this beautiful island's tourism, which attracts gay women from all over the world, particularly in Skala Eressou, which has developed as a low-key open-minded resort, close to where the famous 6th c. BCE lyric poet Sappho (Sapfo), also known as the 10th muse, lived.>>Related:Poems of Sappho (original Greek & English)Skala Eressou in wikipedia

QUOTEA comparative review of this report with the previous one outlines a relatively slow pace of implementation for a number of the activities. This is also alluded to in the report of the [ ] where it is stated that a major delay for most of the activities stems from tardiness in feedback from key regional stakeholders as well as delays in submission of quotations for and the production of materials. I would propose that a review of the activities under this component be undertaken by [ ] and a determination made as to the current relevance of these programmes to the region and a updated plan of implementation should be developed and submitted to the contracting authorities for approval and endorsement. translation: there are implementation delays due to dyslexia

As a Greek, I have to ask my American friends: Why should I need a visa to travel to your country, when you do not need a visa to travel to mine? As a Greek I am also ashamed that my country grants refugee status to only 0.04% of asylum claims (even though refugees are fleeing the wars others have started...)To millions of travellers, visas are as a humiliating and racist experience, as border controls at airports and ports. Why does one have to justify the reason of their visit, and convince the uninformed uniformed asking offensive / insulting questions? Visas and border controls have also been proven to be a total waste of time in relation to security. Now the EU interior ministers have finally agreed to stand together and negotiate visa free travel to the US. And, to be fair, they should also agree to open their own borders...

Pippa Bacca, 33, an Italian artist who was hitch-hiking from Milan to the Middle East dressed as a bride to promote world peace has been found murdered near the Turkish city of Gebze....Pippa had said she "wanted to show that she could put her trust in the kindness of local people".Her friend's blog:http://www.erodoto.org/dblog/

i love invitations in my inbox cordially inviting me to pay 1,000's to attend events.the day starts with a good laugh.

As discussed in an earlier issue of our e-Magazine, a pharaonic plan to develop a vast golf & villa complex in one of the last remaining wilderness areas of Crete is meeting with stiff opposition, with a legal case to be considered by Greece's High Court in May 2008.Two well-known authors have now also started an international petition at:http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Save-the-Cretan-landscapeYou can add your name if you agree.

In early 2008, a camera trap in the border area between Albania and FYROMacedonia provided the first direct evidence that the endangered Balkan Lynx is still alive! To prevent its extinction, Euronatur, an NGO, calls for more protected areas and corridors between those areas which already exist.Photo & details:http://www.euronatur.org/Camera_trap_took_...re_o.756.0.html

So, it had to be a Monday, late Monday, yesterday when Jules Dassin quietly passed away at the age of 96 in Athens after a short illness. Blacklisted by McCarthy's HUAC, but listed forever in the hearts of Athenians, for his 1967-1974 campaign for the restoration of democracy in Greece and the still awaited return of the Parthenon Marbles, a passion he shared with his late wife and muse Melina Mercouri. He died 5 years after his colleague & 'compatriot', the gigantic but controversial Elias Kazan who infamously named names at the HUAC and went to to win 21 Oscars through his films (compared to just 2 Oscar nominations for the equally talented Dassin), and a few months before the full opening of the new Acropolis Museum, the child of Melina and Jules.

History's first email spammer was an engineer of now defunct computer company DEC, trying to inform EVERYONE that their new computers could handle the Arpanet protocol. Equally amusing, with the benefit of hindsight, was the rebuke by the then government-managed Arpanet, the precursor to the Internet: QUOTETHIS WAS A FLAGRANT VIOLATION OF THE USE OF ARPANET AS THE NETWORK IS TO BE USED FOR OFFICIAL U.S. GOVERNMENT BUSINESS ONLY. APPROPRIATE ACTION IS BEING TAKEN TO PRECLUDE ITS OCCURRENCE AGAIN. Full 1st spam message and reaction details