Let me put this plainly, without much flourish: things are getting worse, MUCH worse by the day, with both sides (that of the government and that of anyone and anyone taking part in acts of vandalism, arson and hooliganism in general. Mindless people are talking about the "Revolution of Youth", while in fact we are living through days of Terror in its purest form. I bet most people do not know the two are connected. Let me enlighten you, before moving on to the actual facts...
On July 14th, 1789, the people of Paris invaded Bastille, having reached the breaking point with feudalism and the rich getting richer, while the poor simply died in the streets. On August 27th of the same year, the National Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man. On October 5th, Parisian women stormed Versailles, the royal family estate and palace. On September of 1792, the National Convention had their first meeting and up to this point, there's every reason imaginable and totally valid for the French people to have brought down their governing system and opted for the power of Democracy, under the motto: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity". That, in fact, was a revolution, perhaps the greatest in history, in terms of how it affected the country and in time, all of Europe.
Now, what followed was Louis XVI being sentenced to the guillotine, on January 21st 1793 which still, was "reasonable", given that France was in that mess because of him and the royalists. However, what was beyond all reason, was the infamous "Reign of Terror", which held from September 1793 to July 27, 1794, under Robespierre, who consigned between 20000 and 40000 people to death by guillotine. It was also that period which coined the term "Terrorism". Let us draw a parallel here: I would say, in all fairness, that Athens (and Greece in general), is living through days of terror, especially for the folk working downtown. As further evidence to that, an "anti-government" group attacked the French Institute today, at the corner of Sina and Didotou Sts., mainly defacing the outside wall and only causing some damage to the windows and a nearby ATM, because they were chased away. I would very much like to know what the French Institute had to do with ANYTHING in this sordid case, besides being an easy target for vandals and inconsiderate hooligans (thankfully, no students were inside at the time).
People are saying that Alexander's death was only the spark that struck the fuse of tons of proverbial "gunpowder", due to the government being inconsiderate, passing unacceptable laws and being involved in all sorts of scandals. They say that youths are desperate and looking for a way to vent their desperation and make themselves heard. I could agree, up to a point and if we make a parallel of the youths to the French people of the Revolution and the government to royalists of the same period, it all seems like another necessary outcry from a suppressed populace. However, the people burning Athens, burning Greece, even attacking foreign institutions and thus making any foreign feeling of sympathy obsolete, are rapidly becoming akin to those who started as revolutionaries and ended being terror, even unto their own. The question is, who is the "Robespierre" behind this nigh uncleanable mess.
On another note, there's a very obscure angle to these developments: on Wednesday, the 17th of December, George Palpomatas, son of the Greek Communist Party's and Teaching Association's syndicalist, Constantine Paplomatas, received a .38 caliber (the "Saturday Night Special" of fame - a nickname ridiculously translated in Greek, over the radio) shot in his wrist, while he was discussing with his classmates of the Student Council, at the 2nd Peristeri High School. Thankfully, surgery was successful without further complications, except one: he had his hand in his pocket. Now the pocket is usually thigh-high, meaning that if his wrist had not stopped the bullet , it would have likely hit his femoral artery, among the biggest blood vessels in the human body, usually resulting in fatality, depending on the height of the wound on the thigh (for more information on such wounds, read here). Thankfully, that was not the case.
The event was again fraught with misdirection, discussing the possibility of an air gun (with a projectile of 20mm, right), ricochet or whatnot. In fact, the bullet is very old, the type which still used unjacketed lead and could be around 30 years old. What this means exactly, in relation to everything else, remains to be seen. One thing is for certain: two shots were fired and again, a kid was injured.
As for the special guard, he has started claiming he is delusional, sees demons and generally tries to use a "psychological" fanfare to avoid incarceration. The ballistics testing claims that there's traces of silica dioxide on the bullet, stuff found only in concrete and glass, therefore the bullet that hit Alexander MUST have ricocheted. Again, we must wait and see what this means for the whole case and given circumstances, if, in fact, it is true.
Meanwhile, THIS is how we look to the outside world.
The fires keep burning,
Speedgrapher
On July 14th, 1789, the people of Paris invaded Bastille, having reached the breaking point with feudalism and the rich getting richer, while the poor simply died in the streets. On August 27th of the same year, the National Assembly issued the Declaration of the Rights of Man. On October 5th, Parisian women stormed Versailles, the royal family estate and palace. On September of 1792, the National Convention had their first meeting and up to this point, there's every reason imaginable and totally valid for the French people to have brought down their governing system and opted for the power of Democracy, under the motto: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity". That, in fact, was a revolution, perhaps the greatest in history, in terms of how it affected the country and in time, all of Europe.
Now, what followed was Louis XVI being sentenced to the guillotine, on January 21st 1793 which still, was "reasonable", given that France was in that mess because of him and the royalists. However, what was beyond all reason, was the infamous "Reign of Terror", which held from September 1793 to July 27, 1794, under Robespierre, who consigned between 20000 and 40000 people to death by guillotine. It was also that period which coined the term "Terrorism". Let us draw a parallel here: I would say, in all fairness, that Athens (and Greece in general), is living through days of terror, especially for the folk working downtown. As further evidence to that, an "anti-government" group attacked the French Institute today, at the corner of Sina and Didotou Sts., mainly defacing the outside wall and only causing some damage to the windows and a nearby ATM, because they were chased away. I would very much like to know what the French Institute had to do with ANYTHING in this sordid case, besides being an easy target for vandals and inconsiderate hooligans (thankfully, no students were inside at the time).
People are saying that Alexander's death was only the spark that struck the fuse of tons of proverbial "gunpowder", due to the government being inconsiderate, passing unacceptable laws and being involved in all sorts of scandals. They say that youths are desperate and looking for a way to vent their desperation and make themselves heard. I could agree, up to a point and if we make a parallel of the youths to the French people of the Revolution and the government to royalists of the same period, it all seems like another necessary outcry from a suppressed populace. However, the people burning Athens, burning Greece, even attacking foreign institutions and thus making any foreign feeling of sympathy obsolete, are rapidly becoming akin to those who started as revolutionaries and ended being terror, even unto their own. The question is, who is the "Robespierre" behind this nigh uncleanable mess.
On another note, there's a very obscure angle to these developments: on Wednesday, the 17th of December, George Palpomatas, son of the Greek Communist Party's and Teaching Association's syndicalist, Constantine Paplomatas, received a .38 caliber (the "Saturday Night Special" of fame - a nickname ridiculously translated in Greek, over the radio) shot in his wrist, while he was discussing with his classmates of the Student Council, at the 2nd Peristeri High School. Thankfully, surgery was successful without further complications, except one: he had his hand in his pocket. Now the pocket is usually thigh-high, meaning that if his wrist had not stopped the bullet , it would have likely hit his femoral artery, among the biggest blood vessels in the human body, usually resulting in fatality, depending on the height of the wound on the thigh (for more information on such wounds, read here). Thankfully, that was not the case.
The event was again fraught with misdirection, discussing the possibility of an air gun (with a projectile of 20mm, right), ricochet or whatnot. In fact, the bullet is very old, the type which still used unjacketed lead and could be around 30 years old. What this means exactly, in relation to everything else, remains to be seen. One thing is for certain: two shots were fired and again, a kid was injured.
As for the special guard, he has started claiming he is delusional, sees demons and generally tries to use a "psychological" fanfare to avoid incarceration. The ballistics testing claims that there's traces of silica dioxide on the bullet, stuff found only in concrete and glass, therefore the bullet that hit Alexander MUST have ricocheted. Again, we must wait and see what this means for the whole case and given circumstances, if, in fact, it is true.
Meanwhile, THIS is how we look to the outside world.
The fires keep burning,
Speedgrapher
