Bring the Pain

Canon EOS 5D Mark II

ƒ/6.3

135 mm

1/100

5000

We heard the sounds of growing chants during our first dinner in Athens. The voices grew in intensity, and then we noticed the riot police had blocked all the roads to Parliament. These vehicles convey a “none shall pass” attitude.

A quick check with Google translate showed that this was not a family-friendly faction as it might have seemed. It a neo-Nazi group called the “Golden Dawn” with a fascist focus on immigrants.

And then I read that over half of the police voted for the “Golden Dawn” party. They grew from 1% to 7% of the popular vote in the 2012 election.

Here is the video I took from our balcony.

At one point, they turn to someone who walked over from the Parliament building above… perhaps some of the 18 Golden Dawn party members elected to Parliament.

32 responses to “Bring the Pain”

jurvetson

Jun 28, 2012 at 12:18 pm

Here they come, right in front of Parliament…

I think it translates to "You will see me dead for my Greece"

They left the red flags rolled up… with their suggestive logo…

from wikipedia

Meanwhile the Ministry of Silly Walks went right on by the protesters, on schedule.

Those are heavy wooden shoes, which used to have knives hidden the the pom-pom tips. They fought the Turks with those miniskirts in 1812, with a pleat for each year of occupation.

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solerena

Jun 28, 2012 at 4:07 pm

Gosh, very angry guys indeed… Greece is essential for Europe, our civilization has Greek foundation…very unfortunate! Cute walks… There is a creative intelligent minority in every country…I followed Helen’s photostream for a while and love it…Genius got to be a Greek word ( not Latin:) together with politics and democracy:) just one Diamandis alone…

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jgury

Jun 28, 2012 at 4:20 pm

Oh no, the Greeks are coming!

Closeup on those Tsarouchia shoes….
http://www.asisbiz.com/Greece/Syntagma-Square/images/Evzones-per...

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jurvetson

Jun 28, 2012 at 8:07 pm

Taking battle dress to a whole new level…

…and the Ministry of Silly Walks has a Nazi connection as well in Fawlty Towers

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solerena

Jun 29, 2012 at 1:13 am

Germans feel the Greeks pain the most our days…sorry about both parties…there are great people everywhere who did not do anything wrong at all…I feel sorry for the Greeks…do not really understand what happened there and why…it is all Greek to me too:) silly walks…war…hope not:)

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scleroplex

Jun 29, 2012 at 1:49 am

quite an experience 🙂

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bike-R

Jun 29, 2012 at 3:39 pm

It’s ALL GREEK TO ME……………………….

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Spaceaholic.com

Jun 30, 2012 at 12:00 am

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/solerena] Pretty simple…the country bankrupted itself after overextending on big government, social programs and lavish compensation packages that Greece could not afford, similar afflictions impacting many other members of the EU. The US is headed down the same path.

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solerena

Jun 30, 2012 at 1:37 am

Very sad, thank you…fascism in Greece and nashism in Russia, we hoped this was a part of our horrible past in Europe, not future.

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scleroplex

Jun 30, 2012 at 1:44 am

> Spaceaholic.com – your revisionist history neglects the role of Goldman Sachs and the rest of the predatory finance sector.
just one example that we know about –
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a5MJF...

and of course we have yesterday’s LIBOR scandal as well.

and if the US is only now heading down the path of actually giving things to it’s own citizens, i wonder why we are in the dire straights we already are.

where did all the money go?
who has it?
where is it?

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solerena

Jun 30, 2012 at 3:23 am

I had similar questions in my mind…was a bit shy to ask…not sure we know the answer …. We are all in the same boat…

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scleroplex

Jun 30, 2012 at 4:14 am

and this from today –

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-europe-camp...

"BRUNSWICK, Ohio — It is Republican tradition to portray Europe as a socialist haven where high taxes and extravagant public spending on healthcare and retirement benefits show the folly of Democrats’ big-government agenda.

But few have used the tactic as aggressively as Mitt Romney. For years, Republican crowds have applauded his scathing critique of Europe. As Europe’s fiscal turmoil has posed a growing threat to the global economy, Romney has made it one of his main lines of attack against President Obama.

"He’s taking us down a path towards Europe," Romney told supporters at a Father’s Day breakfast in this Cleveland suburb. "He wants us to see a bigger and bigger government, with a healthcare system run by the government. He wants to see people paying more and more in taxes."

The road to Europe, Romney said, leads to chronic high unemployment, low wage growth and massive debts that can trigger fiscal calamity.

But Romney’s presentation ignores aspects of the European crisis that critics see as an illustration of how his own plans to shrink government could threaten the sputtering U.S. recovery. In Greece, Spain, Ireland and other Eurozone nations, unemployment has soared amid steep government cutbacks under austerity measures championed by Germany.

In Britain, critics of Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron blame the country’s recent slide back into recession on his austerity agenda of scaling back government."

Bring the Pain indeed :-))

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scleroplex

Jun 30, 2012 at 2:00 pm

finally! some good news 🙂

growth is good!

"Italy’s Prime Minister Nudges German Chancellor Toward Growth
By RACHEL DONADIO and NICHOLAS KULISH
Published: June 29, 2012

ROME — At the summit meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels early Friday morning, Germany’s leader, Angela Merkel, found herself facing a tenacious opponent, one who in the course of an exhausting night of bargaining finally forced the Iron Chancellor to blink. Even more surprising than that was the identity of her antagonist: Mario Monti, the soft-spoken technocratic prime minister of Italy whom Ms. Merkel had helped to install in office.

President François Hollande of France, Germany’s traditional diplomatic partner, came to power in May promising to redirect Europe’s priorities from Ms. Merkel’s campaign of austerity to growth. But it is Mr. Monti who has emerged as the uncontested leader of the “pro-growth” forces, and who persuaded Ms. Merkel to take perhaps one of the largest steps toward European integration since the euro crisis began."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/30/world/europe/italys-prime-mini...

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solerena

Jun 30, 2012 at 2:52 pm

🙂 we can sense the difference in cultures in our European homeland…

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jgury

Jun 30, 2012 at 7:27 pm

Some of these Greek links remind me that pure politics is much more crazed than religion now. http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/golden-dawn?before=1336514187

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solerena

Jul 1, 2012 at 7:00 am

Cannot buy this, too grotesque! Somebody is making this on purpose to push Germans in the right direction…it is probably working…. Really see a hand of chess player moving figures on this board…the same moves, nothing new…

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jurvetson

Jul 1, 2012 at 7:02 am

jury – Just different, and this is the kind of craziness that tends to fade away versus propagating for millennia.

The strangeness grows further still. Now I find out that the hotel we were staying in (where I took the video from the balcony) used to be the headquarters of the Third Reich from 1941-1944, and was filled with hundreds of officers. For three years the Nazis lived in the hotel, with regular visits by Goering and Himmler, and a 1941 "vacation" by Rommel and Hitler.

I looked at the lobby in a new light…

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jgury

Jul 1, 2012 at 1:39 pm

A little sight seeing at the Acropolis then back to the Grande Bretagne to freshen up before a big night on the town. Just like any other "German tourists but much more demanding on the laundry staff about handling those uniforms. Terrible tippers too but they finally learned that lesson the hard way.

They are still paying for it too. Lucky for Greece that they all wanted to get the best tables for the Sophia Von Schtupf show at Nick’s Agora Cafe back then. If not they would be at the fiscal mercy of the Brits and look how that worked out last time.

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scleroplex

Jul 1, 2012 at 1:45 pm

in all old countries we are always tracing steps atop older ones.
you could have lived in a hotel in paris too that once billetted the nazis.
not a surprise.

as for the swastika, it predates all this crap 🙂
you find it in ancient jewish temples too.

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solerena

Jul 1, 2012 at 5:29 pm

Svastica is the ancient symbol of infinity, revolving spinning sun…

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jurvetson

Jul 1, 2012 at 8:01 pm

Yes, yes, but I bet it felt like the red carpet treatment when they arrived… A certain je ne sais quoi… 🙂

Jgury – funny, darkly so

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jgury

Jul 2, 2012 at 6:27 pm

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/solerena]

Looks like swastikas go way back in ancient Greece to this Boeotian vase example they have tagged at 700 BCE. Not sure what the tie to Artemis as mistress of beasts is as this is from an original real deal pagan culture, not neo newage anything. This BCE CE change is a nice example of semantic warfare. BC was too non pc offensive so it became "common era" but that is of course understood and taught with even more dogmatic binding as "before christ existence / christ exists." At least with AD after death, the death part was acknowledged. Not that I have any better suggestions for which individual to base the origin on for the timeline of human history.
How about this, a whole frigging Harvard library illustrated ancient history of the swastika book complete with full google ebook scans. Jeez, enough to get me out of wallowing in Yale room 26 oddities.

books.google.com/books?id=2rQTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1004&…

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solerena

Jul 2, 2012 at 6:54 pm

The earlist known symbol:) at the very core all new is well forgotten old…the truth is in knowing without knowing:) beasts are just the appearance and appearances are deceptive!

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jgury

Jul 3, 2012 at 1:59 pm

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/solerena] I think the handprint is by far the earliest symbol. At least that is how I remember learning it.

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helen sotiriadis

Jul 4, 2012 at 7:38 am

– half the police voted for golden dawn… as well as the army.
– they get police protection… the peaceful protesters on syntagma square got attacked.
– the golden dawn uses the swastika with the excuse that it’s an ancient greek symbol and it’s not their fault if nazis stole it.
– their banner reads, you will see me die for greece.
– silly walks, indeed. i guess the evzons may have seemed intimidating, once.
– i see you stayed at the grande bretagne… living high 🙂

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jurvetson

Jul 10, 2012 at 8:38 pm

And they made the NYT today…

"a new report by Human Rights Watch warns that xenophobic violence has reached alarming proportions in parts of Greece"

So sad. Everyone I met in Greece was incredibly friendly.

For the archive, here are some comments from Facebook regarding this post

Leon: Steve, you know I live in Greece and this is happening just for one reason: those neonazis, have thousands of members "assisting" daily old ladies that want to go to the bank, people that have problems that police cannot solve etc. When people ask if they have to pay something for their services, they respond: you can pay with your vote. Greek police is doing nothing nowadays an these neonazis are assisting certain citizens to do police job, errands etc. This is why lots of Greek people voted for them. I have unfriended from Facebook any friend that belongs to that party.

Ken: A couple of things, the "Golden Dawn" party for the most part represents the anarchists/dregs of society; even though a certain percentage of the police force arein the party, but this is Greece. The country is being overrun with illegal immigrants/foreigners that have further impoverished the nation and angered the people. So this party resonates with some. Second, the whole population is stunned that the country is bankrupt; for years they lived well, but never did the Greeks think they were on borrowed time and money. Hard to believe…most of the people blame the politicians who they claim lied to them. Do you see the parallels here?

I’m of Greek heritage, have family in Greece and am a Greek Orthodox priest. So, I’m in regular contact with Greek clergy, consuls, and Greek nationals. After speaking with all thee groups its obvious that their situation is dire; families have to give up their children to the state because they cannot afford them; pharmaceutical firms will not send drugs because the government cannot pay; medical doctors and professionals and others working for the state are not always being paid and the woes continue.

Yes, these people screwed themselves. They spent money they did not have; they lived a lifestyle that their economy could not support. Things will only get worse as the people come to grips with reality. In addition, the Greek economy is not competitive; beautiful countryside, but as you are probably realizing..Steve the customer service is lacking. The Greek tourist industry is not as competitive as before and the country hurts its own brand with its strikes and civil unrest. I see that this is all a foreshadowing of what can happen in the US if we let our debt get out of control. Keep in mind Greek debt was only 20% of GDP in the 1980’s. What’s next?

Also, from what I hear, the Greek islands are totally different from the mainland. Life on the island has not changed as much and is not as caught up in the politics; everyone is advising that if you visit Greece, spend most of the time in the islands.

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scleroplex

Jul 10, 2012 at 10:23 pm

Human Rights Watch reports need a significant amount of salt to go with them these days….

here’s my post on their recent huffy puffy Syria report – http://www.flickr.com/photos/scleroplex/7493930648/

my only question for HRW is – What about Maher Arar?

his case deserves a huffy puffy HRW report too.
but self-righteous indignation can be so…… selective.

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jgury

Jul 11, 2012 at 7:04 pm

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson] But what better country to be truly xenophobic in than Greece. Xenophon himself was xenophobic for very good reasons after all. Those Greeks and Romans, honorable men that they were no doubt, just did not have our finely tuned sensitivity to political correctness either that is for sure. Just look at how they treated the apostle Paul at the Areopagus or what the Roman historians and philosophers wrote about the behavior of Christians, Jews and all the other diverse ethnic groups and practices they observed in the empire.

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scleroplex

Jul 11, 2012 at 8:02 pm

> jgury – point! :-))

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scleroplex

Jul 11, 2012 at 9:45 pm

here is another great piece from matt taibbi about cities and towns and whole countries like Greece

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-scam-wall-street-l...

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WhishingOnAsTar!

Dec 11, 2015 at 12:41 pm

and Golden Dawn it’s now the third party inside the parliament…

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jgury

Dec 15, 2015 at 8:35 pm

None shall pass.
ARTHUR: What?
BLACK KNIGHT: None shall pass.
ARTHUR: I have no quarrel with you, good Sir knight, but I must
cross this bridge.
BLACK KNIGHT: Then you shall die.
ARTHUR: I command you as King of the Britons to stand aside!
BLACK KNIGHT: I move for no man.
ARTHUR: So be it!
[hah]
[parry thrust]
[ARTHUR chops the BLACK KNIGHT’s left arm off]
ARTHUR: Now stand aside, worthy adversary.
BLACK KNIGHT: ‘Tis but a scratch.
ARTHUR: A scratch? Your arm’s off!
BLACK KNIGHT: No, it isn’t.
ARTHUR: Well, what’s that then?
BLACK KNIGHT: I’ve had worse.
ARTHUR: You liar!
BLACK KNIGHT: Come on you pansy!
[hah]
[parry thrust]
[ARTHUR chops the BLACK KNIGHT’s right arm off]
ARTHUR: Victory is mine!
[kneeling]
We thank thee Lord, that in thy merc-
[hah]
BLACK KNIGHT: Come on then.
ARTHUR: What?
BLACK KNIGHT: Have at you!
ARTHUR: You are indeed brave, Sir knight, but the fight is mine.
BLACK KNIGHT: Oh, had enough, eh?
ARTHUR: Look, you stupid bastard, you’ve got no arms left.
BLACK KNIGHT: Yes I have.
ARTHUR: Look!
BLACK KNIGHT: Just a flesh wound.
[bang]
ARTHUR: Look, stop that.
BLACK KNIGHT: Chicken! Chicken!
ARTHUR: Look, I’ll have your leg. Right!
[whop]
BLACK KNIGHT: Right, I’ll do you for that!
ARTHUR: You’ll what?
BLACK KNIGHT: Come ‘ere!
ARTHUR: What are you going to do, bleed on me?
BLACK KNIGHT: I’m invincible!
ARTHUR: You’re a loony.
BLACK KNIGHT: The Black Knight always triumphs!
Have at you! Come on then.
[whop]
[ARTHUR chops the BLACK KNIGHT’s other leg off]
BLACK KNIGHT: All right; we’ll call it a draw.
ARTHUR: Come, Patsy.
BLACK KNIGHT: Oh, oh, I see, running away then. You yellow
bastards! Come back here and take what’s coming to you. I’ll biteyour legs off!

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Bring the Pain

32 responses to “Bring the Pain”

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