The Burning Times

The Burning Times, else known as the era of the Witch Hunt, is the historical time between 1550 and 1675, when the Church and Inquisition burned somewhere around 150000 - 200000 "witches". Worldwide paranoia had gripped almost every corner of the Earth, in an effort to cleanse the evil "responsible" for every possible mishap, from failed crops to the neighbor's dog dying. In many cases, the paranoia was used to further many people's and/or organizations' personal goals and ambition.

I don't know about you, but it certainly rings a bell to me. Oh, yes: a 15-year-old boy was shot by a policeman and a surprising number of people do not actually care about the fact itself, but focus on using it as some kind of leverage or generally, a means to be exploited. Some recent examples:

(1) Journalist A, says over the radio: "...the officer in question, a father of two...". We don't care if he is a father or not and this is a token phrase used to evoke public sympathy. For what reason? Besides even the reason, that is not journalism: journalism is the cold, hard facts, given in a way that they represent the truth and not used to alter their essence.

(2) Journalist B says over the radio: "...the brave young lad, killed by...". We've been through this: yes, a boy was killed, yes by a police officer, yes it's horrible and tragic and in my opinion there's nothing that would plausibly exonerate the guilty party. However, where exactly does the "brave" part come in? Did the journalist know the boy? Does he have any indication of the boy's bravery in the face of the policemen? Does he have any clues he should share with the public? NO, he just tries to evoke public sympathy and while I can understand it in the case of the victim, still, not journalism.

(3) Journalist C says over the radio and Journalist D says on TV: "...the boy, executed by the police...". Whoa there! Hold your horses! Do these people even know what execution actually is or what it implies? In one case, a direct order by the government to kill that specific kid OR, a direct order from some unknown authority (legal or not), to kill the kid. Think about it and think what that actually means, both in the case it could be true and more probably, in the case where it is not true but a "journalistic" hyperbole.

(4) Greece's "Burning Times" so far, have a toll of 1000 waste-bins, several businesses and buildings, an unknown number of stolen merchandise, as well as cars, public property, etc. etc. and will still have economical, societal and exterior political repercussions. Do the people, currently destroying Athens, act in such a way in the memory of Alex Gregoropoulos? No, they were looking for an excuse; they are ALWAYS looking for an excuse. They are exactly the same as those oh-so-brave punks who viciously beat up a photographer doing a piece on the nightly face of Athens, believing he was working for the police; without a gun. Now, in fact, a policeman has shot someone dead. Are they outside said police station trying to beat the cops up? No, they are instead breaking, entering and stealing from shops all over Stournari St., Ermou St., Kolonaki, in Salonika, in Giannena, in Komotini, all over this poor, pathetic country we call home.

(5) What about politicians? Sure, the average person, with an average IQ rating above a turnip's knows the government (Nea Dimocratia - right wing) is trying to pick up the pieces and cover its ass. For instance, they made the day of the boy's killing, a holiday in his honor (well, in fact it's tomorrow and not the day itself but you get the point). Right, as if that would console his parents - bollocks! As for the opposing parties (PASOK - socialist, KKE, Syrriza - leftist), they are using all this situation to garner favor to the detriment of the government and accuse each other. Mr. George Papandreou holers useless speeches as always, against "the evil of the right wing" (because his beliefs are so leftist, right - pun intended), Mr. Alavanos wants elections and calls "the fighting, vibrant youth to say a loud 'NO' to today's government, by peaceful protest and vote", Ms. Papariga accuses Syrriza of being in league with the hooligans, Mr. Alavanos says that KKE and Ms. Papariga shamelessly try to undermine his party, Alexis Tsipras (note, Syrriza's current head) has not shown his motorcycle-riding mug and all around, people are doing their best to garner impressions.

(6) As for the police, hah, around half an hour ago, a motorcycle Team Z member shot his gun several times in the air, to "scare off protesters", in a densely populated neigboorhood, with people watching the streets from their balconies. Thankfully, no one was hurt - this time.

(7) Meanwhile, every foreign agency of any sort, from here to Timbuktu, advises that people avoid Greece for a while and paint us as we show: as incompetent savages.

By the by: two of my close friends were acquainted with the boy - it's a very small world, countries are even smaller, ours miniscule by comparison and we satisfy ourselves with burning it, either for estate gain or pure hormone/stress/frustration release. I say: get laid more and stop burning stuff. Your dicks won't get any bigger.

Speedgrapher

P.S. Oh, by the way, some people thought it was a very good and revolutionary idea to blow up a bank's (Citibank) ATM, 2 blocks away from my house. I am SURE it was all done in the name of the kid's death - nowhere near where all this is actually taking place.