26 Μαΐου 2008

Τριήμερο

Στα δελτία λένε για τους Αμερικανούς που λόγω βενζίνης δεν έφυγαν για τις εξοχές στο τριήμερο. Τι τριήμερο είναι αυτό προφανώς δεν έχει σημασία.

(το ίδιο ισχύει και για τους αντίπαλους του Νίκου Χατζηνικολάου στο τένις, τους νίκησε και αυτό είναι σημαντικότερο από τα ονόματά τους)

Η τελευταία Δευτέρα του Μαΐου είναι εθνική αργία, Μέρα των Πεσόντων. Στη Γουκιπαίδεια λέει πως στις νοτιοανατολικές ΗΠΑ είναι σαν Ψυχοσάββατο. Αναμενόμενο.

Στα δικά μας
Ο Αβέρωφ της είχε πει ότι «αυτό που έχασες δεν αποζημιώνεται με τίποτα...». Κι εκείνη του απάντησε και ήταν σαν να του απαντούσαν όλες οι οικογένειες μαζί: «Το ξέρω, είναι καλύτερα, όμως, να κλαίω σε ένα σπίτι όπου έχω να πληρώνω το νοίκι παρά να κλαίω μαζί με τα παιδιά μου ξυπόλυτη στο δρόμο».

25 Μαΐου 2008

Αν όλοι οι στρατιώτες του κόσμου άπλωναν τα χέρια

σε μερικά σημεία του πλανήτη θα άνοιγαν μύτες εκατέρωθεν

A Djiboutian soldier, left, and an Eritrean soldier at a wall denoting the battle line in the border dispute near the Red Sea. Opposing troops are within feet or inches of each other.
Θυμίζει Ίμια αλλά στην πραγματικότητα καμία σχέση. Το Τζιμπουτί κείται πολύ κοντά στην Ουάσιγκτον και το Παρίσι.
A Conflict’s Buffer Zone: Rocks, and Inches.

23 Μαΐου 2008

«Μάλιστα μας έδωσαν παγωτό»

Η κουβανική εκστρατεία στην Αγκόλα

(δεν είμαστε χαζοί, μπορούμε να διακρίνουμε ανάμεσα στην αφήγηση και την προπαγάνδα)

πριν την αναχώρηση

Near completion of training, Ernesto’s group was unexpectedly assembled and informed they had been selected for a “special military course.” Things began to change shortly thereafter. Ernesto remembers “weird things going on ... stricter custody, more security and the military maneuvers began to get more complicated and more exhausting. We were taken to the medics for all sorts of tests and vaccines. We understood nothing of what was happening.” It was during this period that Ernesto was issued his first international passport, showing him attired in civilian clothes. The civilian suit was issued to him solely for the purpose of the passport photo, then removed and given to the next soldier his size. Phony civilian occupations were listed on the passport. Ernesto and his companions, just months out of high school, abruptly became architects, engineers and science professionals. “The whole process took about a month and we had absolutely no contact with the outside world. That was forbidden. However they treated us better, with more respect. They even gave us ice cream.

επί τω διεθνιστικώ έργω

“We left Landala around midnight,” he recalls, “using the roads on the northern route toward Zaire. At dawn, around 5am, we heard the sound of drums. Drums! Just like in the films. We thought the drums were coming from a nearby village, and that the tribe was happy at our appearance and was playing them as a welcome.” Nobel Prize winning Marxist writer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, in his history of Operation Carlotta described the action in Linche:
It was an atrocious war in which one had to keep a lookout for mercenaries and snakes, rockets and cannibals. One Cuban commander fell at the height of battle into an elephant trap. The black Africans, conditioned by centuries of hatred of the Portuguese, were initially hostile to the white Cubans. Especially in Cabinda, Cuban scouts often heard their presence reported by the primitive telegraphy of the drum, whose tom-tom could be heard everywhere within a radius of some 35 kilometers.
απολογισμός

Ernesto now lives within the sizable Cuban expatriate community in the Republic of Panama. Life after the army included, marriage, defection and resettlement. Like most expatriates he stays updated on Cuban domestic politics, and considers the fate of the island without Fidel.There can be no doubt that significant change will occur in Cuba in the near future. How those changes reflect the history of Cuba during its “internationalist proletariat” era that began with Che Gueverra and ended rather ignominiously in Africa remains to be seen. How will the Cuban people view “Operation Carlotta?” A circumspect Ernesto describes his feelings on the matter:
“At the time we were heroes. We absolutely believed that what we had done was productive and necessary for Angola . . . we have come to realize that it was truly a useless mission. So many comrades died without achieving any real objective. So many families were affected. The whole business was based on the absurd concept of the international-proletariat, where the poor of Cuba needed to help other poor people in different countries on their way to revolution and social development. I personally was affected in many ways. My nerves were affected. I was badly wounded and nearly lost my life. I never received compensation for my wounds. I was simply one of the internationalist-proletariats.”

21 Μαΐου 2008

Babis Vovos meets his Nemesis

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — Turkmenistan plans to build a soaring $70 million monument in the capital that will outstrip anything built during the ostentatious rule of the late dictator Saparmurat Niyazov.

The country's state newspaper reported Monday that the 607-foot monument will rise twice as high as Turkmenistan's current record-holder — a tower topped by a golden statue of Niyazov that rotates to face the sun.

Authorities recently announced that Niyazov's statue will be moved from the central city to the suburbs.

18 Μαΐου 2008

Ψάχνω γραμματοσειρά που έχει το πεζό άλφα με περισπωμένη

στη θέση 64 (δεκαεξαδικό 40).

Εννοείται πως δεν πρόκετια για unicode γραμματοσειρά. Ούτε για MgPolτάδε της Ματζέντα, ούτε για WinGreek.

(ναι, βλέπω πολυτονικό φως στην άκρη του pdf)

10 Μαΐου 2008

Έγγραφο-νερό ανατρέπει το έγγραφο-φωτιά των ΝΕΩΝ

Αν βαριέσαι να το διαβάσεις όλο, ή φοβάσαι μη βραχείς, πήγαινε κατευθείαν στον αρχιερέα. Επίσης μπορείς να βουτήξεις απευθείας στη λυματολάσπη.

Διότι, κύριοι των ΝΕΩΝ, εδώ στη Μαντζουρία κάνουμε ρεπορτάζ.











06 Μαΐου 2008

01 Μαΐου 2008

Από το Υπουργείο Αποκλειστικά Ελληνικών Φαινομένων

Στην Αθηνα ο νομος της ζουγκλας ζει και βασιλευει. Ως ποτε θα ανεχεστε να ζειτε σαν τα αγρια ζωα, ω ανδρες Αθηναιοι? Ως ποτε θα ψηφιζετε κυβερνησεις και δημαρχους που αφηνουν την πολη σε τετοια χάλια?



"It's unbelievable that we have to take this action, but the lives of children are at risk from increasing numbers of drivers who are so selfish that they are willing to put lives at risk by refusing to stop for 30 seconds at a school crossing.

"Councils will do everything in their power to stamp this out. Abuse and intimidation of lollipop men and women who are carrying out a vital service to the community will also not be tolerated.

"Motorists need to be made aware that they are committing a criminal offence and we hope this new technology will prove an effective deterrent."



But dozens of the patrols suffer shocking abuse. Typical incidents include driving around or too close to patrols standing on the road, swearing or using threatening language and revving engines and sounding horns while the children are crossing.

Describing one recent near tragedy, lollipop lady Vera Irving said: "The car had stopped. The children stepped out, the mum stepped out.

"Then the lady just carried on, nearly knocked the children down. If the mum hadn't pulled the children out of the way, they'd have got run over, they'd have got killed."

μέσω Danger Room