And that was September 2006

the daily e-magazine
ly
i
a
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September 2006
We cover every issue
By Asa Butcher
Ovi magazine’s covers have always been popular among our readers and their joy became
sevenfold when we went daily resulting in a new design every day of the week. Okay, we
haven’t had a brand new cover every day, but twenty out of a month is a good start, plus the
original sixteen we had for our monthly issues brings us up to a respectable total.
Now we are steadily approaching the landmark number of fifty, we decided it was time to
collate the daily covers into one place along with the article for which they were originally
promoting. So, for the first time in the history of Ovi, please allow us to present to you our
‘We cover every issue’ PDF book brimming with covers and the aforementioned accompanying article.
This is a new step for the Ovi team, which is why we are celebrating by giving it away free
of charge. Yes, free. The only cost to you is time, but that will be forgotten once you see the
first covers in full colour and enjoy the team’s articles from the first month of daily publication.
Ever since our first ‘Three Men and a Deadline’ cover, which used Thanos’ little dolls; he
claims they are an artistic aid, but I am not so sure, our gregarious Greek has produced
some outstanding covers that would be worthy of gallery space if there was a gallery worthy enough.
Choosing a favourite from nearly forty covers is a difficult task and would take a great
deal of effort, but I came prepared you lucky people. My personal favourites are the hand
x-ray for issue two, which established our direction and rattled a few of our critics, and the
eyeballs on the kebab skewer, which reminded our readers of the twisted sense of humour
contained within our pages and sickened even more of our critics. As for the past month,
the 9-11 ‘WHY?’ cover was stunning and the child soldiers was shocking.
Eyeballs, x-rays, cupcakes, clocks, motherboards, t-shirts, students, Earth, babies, cats,
hands, microphones, hands, children, pollution, the Pope, Mau, Blair, Amadeus, pirates,
sand, Tower Bridge, swings, a moose, the WTC, Olympic rings, a four-leaf clover, a
cartoon and even the covers have all appeared on the covers, which makes it one of the
stranger lists you’ll read today.
What Thanos will use on future covers depends on future articles and events, but how that
will inspire those creative neurons in his creative cranium remains to be seen. The only way
to find out for sure is to return every day…failing that, you can come back in a few months
and download the Top 100 Covers PDF!
Lost chance in Lappeenranta
by Thanos Kalamidas
2006-09-05
www.ovimagazine.com
I have mentioned before that
the Finnish presidency of the
EU, despite what everybody
was expecting, is going to be an
example of how a small country like Finland can force its
opinions and necessities. The
timing was strange as well. The Middle East
was set alight, once more finding all the traditional European powers speechlessly watching
the destruction of Lebanon, primarily France
who was once a dominate power in the area a
few decades ago.
last two-three years, but even that has reached its
limits. September 1st was the final day for Iran to
accept the EU proposal or…what! And that’s what
the Finnish presidency has to find out, or what!
Lebanon was one issue and it seems that even
though the Finnish president Mrs. Tarja Halonen
will have many chances in the future to remind
them how badly and how late they reacted, the UN
and the Security Council finally reached a decision
and things, if not getting better, are definitely getting calmer, at least for Lebanon. However, there
are other issues that kept the meeting of the foreign
ministers busy in Lappeenranta in East Finland.
Why put a deadline if you are going to stress it and
why do it again and again? Europe is in the middle
of a blind American president and a crazy Iranian
president. Tuomioja finished by saying that crisis
always open new opportunities. I doubt if the Lebanese children are looking forward for more crisis
and that was very naïve to say. Further more, when
this is includes the Middle East it shows ignorance
to the problems.
This is not a conspiracy theory, but a well known
secret that the US administration was more than
happy with the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and
would be even happier if they had managed to
do their work well and give them the excuse for
cleaning up Syria and further more Iran. However,
the almighty Israeli military power showed signs
of…weakness and disorientation; it didn’t even
manage to succeed in its obvious targets.
Again the main issue for Finland was Russia. The
good old love/hate feeling, only this time the conversation was about strategies to develop relations
with Russia. Once more the Finnish presidency
excused a reputation that much despises the Finlandization relationship with Russia. Following
the tradition, Finland is worried about the cooperation agreement that ends in 2007 and Tuomioja
emphasized that this agreement will be useful for
the countries bordering Russia and for the rest of
Europe. So that was it. The most important meeting for the EU in the first two months of Finland’s
presidency was to sweet-talk Finland’s worries for
the big bear neighbor!
Following the result, the Syrian government, Hezbollah and the Iranian puppet president talked
about a ‘victory’, sadly forgetting that this was a
bitter victory over the dead bodies of dozens of
innocent children. Europe has often tried to be a
peaceful negotiator between the Iranian dictatorship and the American administration, but even
this is reaching its limits.
Javier Solana, the EU foreign and security policy
chief, has tried hard to find a way to stop the Iranian nuclear plans and satisfy the Americans over the
The Finnish foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja left
the meeting in Lappeenranta and explained to the
waiting reporters from all around the world that
the time is not right to force an extreme solution
despite the Iranian disregard to the UN proposals
and deadlines. He added that the EU president will
stress talks with Teheran to find a solution but the
question remains: To stress what?
As I said at the beginning of this article, the Finnish presidency of the EU will try to force its opinions and necessities, but it will be a great pity if
this chance is wasted on petty games with Russia
and Finland’s fear of its neighbor.
A new Arab society
by Ergo te Lina
2006-09-06
Ali Ahmad Said Asbar (‫ﻱﻝﻉ‬
‫)ﺭﺏﺱﺇ ﺩﻱﻉﺱ ﺩﻡﺡﺃ‬, born 1930,
is a Syrian-born poet and
essayist who has made his
career largely in Lebanon
and France. He has written
more than twenty books in his native Arabic. Said was considered to be a candidate
for the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature, but
the award went to British playwright Harold
Pinter.
The following are excerpts from an interview
with him aired on Dubai TV on March 11,
2006.
Adonis: Words are treated today as a crime.
Throughout history, there has never been anything similar to what’s happening today in our
Arab society - when you say a word, it is like
committing a crime.
Interviewer: True.
Adonis: Words and opinions are treated as a
crime. This is inconceivable.
Interviewer: True. You can be arrested for writing an article.
Adonis: That’s one example.
In the Koran itself, it says that Allah listened
to his first enemy, Satan, and Satan refused to
obey him. I believe that Allah was capable of
wiping out Satan, yet He listened to Satan’s refusal to obey Him.
At the very least, we demand that Muslims today listen to people with different opinions.
www.ovimagazine.com
Interviewer: How do you view the plan for democracy, the “Greater Middle East” plan?
Adonis: First of all, I oppose any external intervention in Arab affairs. If the Arabs are so
inept that they cannot be democratic by themselves, they can never be democratic through
the intervention of others. If we want to be
democratic, we must be so by ourselves. But
the preconditions for democracy do not exist in
Arab society, and cannot exist unless religion
is re-examined in a new and accurate way, and
unless religion becomes a personal and spiritual experience, which must be respected. On
the other hand, all issues pertaining to civil and
human affairs must be left up to the law and to
the people themselves.
Interviewer: Mr. Adonis, how do you view the
democracy in Palestine, which brought Hamas
to power?
Adonis: I support it, but I oppose the establishment of any state on the basis of religion, even
if it’s done by Hamas.
Interviewer: Even if it liberates Palestine?
Adonis: Yes, because in such a case, it would
be my duty to fight this religious state.
Interviewer: What are the reasons for growing
glorification of dictatorships - sometimes in the
name of pan-Arabism, and other times in the
name of rejecting foreigners? The glorification
comes even from the elites, as can be seen, for
example, in the Saddam Hussein trial, and in all
the people who support him.
Adonis: This phenomenon is very dangerous,
and I believe it has to do with the concept of
“oneness,” which is reflected - in practical or
political terms - in the concept of the hero, the
saviour, or the leader. This concept offers an inner sense of security to people who are afraid
continues >>>>
of freedom. Some human beings are afraid of
freedom.
Interviewer: Are we on the brink of extinction,
or we are already extinct?
Interviewer: Because it is synonymous with
anarchy?
Adonis: We have become extinct. We have the
quantity. We have the masses of people, but a
people becomes extinct when it no longer has
a creative capacity, and the capacity to change
its world.
Adonis: No, because being free is a great burden. It is by no means easy.
Interviewer: You’ve got to have a boss...
Adonis: When you are free, you have to face
reality, the world in its entirety. You have to
deal with the world’s problems, with everything...
Interviewer: With all the issues...
Adonis: On the other hand, if we are slaves,
we can be content and not have to deal with
anything. Just as Allah solves all our problems,
the dictator will solve all our problems.
I don’t understand what is happening in Arab
society today. I don’t know how to interpret
this situation, except by making the following
hypothesis: When I look at the Arab world,
with all its resources, the capacities of Arabs
individuals, especially abroad - you will find
among them great philosophers, scientists, engineers, and doctors. In other words, the Arab
individual is no less smart, no less a genius,
than anyone else in the world. He can excel
- but only outside his society. I have nothing
against the individuals - only against the institutions and the regimes.
If I look at the Arabs, with all their resources
and great capacities, and I compare what they
have achieved over the past century with what
others have achieved in that period, I would
have to say that we Arabs are in a phase of extinction, in the sense that we have no creative
presence in the world.
The great Sumerians became extinct, the great
Greeks became extinct, and the Pharaohs became extinct. The clearest sign of this extinction is when we intellectuals continue to think
in the context of this extinction.
Interviewer: That is very dangerous.
Adonis: That is our real intellectual crisis. We
are facing a new world with ideas that no longer
exist, and in a context that is obsolete. We must
sever ourselves completely from that context,
on all levels, and think of a new Arab identity,
a new culture, and a new Arab society.
Imagine that Arab societies had no Western
influence. What would be left? The Muslims
must...
Interviewer: What would be left?
Adonis: Nothing. Nothing would be left except
for the mosque, the church, and the commerce,
of course.
The Muslims today - forgive me for saying
this - with their accepted interpretation [of the
religious text] are the first to destroy Islam,
whereas those who criticize the Muslims - the
non-believers, the infidels, as they call them are the ones who perceive in Islam the vitality
that could adapt it to life. These infidels serve
Islam better than the believers
He made further comments in an article, “Beyond the East/West: Towards
a Culture of the Future”, which can be found in its entirety at www.library.
cornell.edu.
“I admit that when I hear the word frontiers, I feel that it is immediately
transformed into chains ringing within me. When I envision it in its martial
image, the image of barbed wires, and see how these wires extend in the
selves and minds the way they extend on the ground, I am stricken with terror
from all directions...”
Victor Hugo once said: “Every self comprises a complete model of all the
selves.” Man is a totality before he is a part. How then do we affirm this
totality? This is the question that should inform every cultural policy if it is
to rise to a universal and a human level. It is the cultural policy that declares,
after human rights, the rights of nature as well as the rights of universalism.”
Back in USSR
by Thanos Kalamidas
2006-09-08
I was reading in the
news that the US government demands more
data on the passports
for European travelers
to the USA and I just
remembered the good
old…USSR! They demanded more, actually, and because they were not happy
with the information they were getting
they were doing their own research - If
you asked them, they used to call everybody a ‘terrorist’ as well.
The issue here is not just if I am a terrorist or not, the issue is why they make me
feel like a terrorist, how much information
do they mean by ‘further information’ and
why do they think if I was a terrorist I would
have this information on public view. Let’s
take things one by one. I am no terrorist,
according to my principals, but I am a terrorist for every follower of the apartheid
and to my astonishment most of them live
in the USA.
I’m not a Muslim, which automatically
qualifies somebody as a suspect, but I don’t
consider myself a Christian either, which is
suspicious to one of the new-Christians that
control the American administration and, in
extent, the American services. I’m European all right, but I’m not one of these blonde
Swedes with the ice blue eyes since Europe
also includes Italy, Portugal and Greece
with their darker colors and black eyes. I
fail the prototype of Arnold Schwarzenegger if that was their idea of a non-terrorist.
I believe in democracy where people have
www.ovimagazine.com
the right to judge the decisions of their administration, I believe that the war in Iraq
was a huge mistake, I believe in the autonomy of the countries and no country has the
right to promote to another country democracy with violence.
I’m against the USA or any other country
playing the role of international policeman
because this is the job of the UN and, in the
end, they are doing it only to support their
petty business plans. I’m against every kind
of racism and prejudice, and I believe that
by asking for all this extra information the
American administration is guilty of prejudice.
But are these the things that will judge me
and will be in my passport’s microchip that
the USA is demanding, because if it is then,
Houston, we have a serious problem with
human rights!
Here we are, I have no idea if I am a terrorist or not because nobody tells me how
you identify this identity and what ‘less or
more information’ means. Going further,
is the American administration interested
in my financial situation, and if it is, why?
The US likes to be famous for its free commercial system that goes so far to fund the
government and since the budget is so high
how do I know that the private sector will
not fund it with the exchange of my private
information. How can they use it? Let your
imagination run free!
If that is true then the USA is not interested
in terrorists, but only in controlling who
comes and goes with pure financial criteria.
continues >>>>
This is amazing when it comes from a country
with 37 million living in poverty and homeless,
that the very same administration doesn’t know
how to protect or help, die on the streets.
Finally, but not least, all the latest terrorist
attacks in the UK and Spain proved that the
terrorists are not Arabs with long dresses and
long beards coming with dynamite strapped
to their chest, but ordinary every day people
who live next door, have the local citizenship
with the right to elect and be elected. Actually, they were not different to anybody else
and despite all the myths nobody has ever
noticed anything unusual about them.
Afterwards they found out too many things
that they had noticed, but that’s partly
thanks to the 10 minutes of fame courtesy of
the media; until then they were just neighborhood boys. If they are terrorists, they are
not like these B-movies where they had cool
training in the desert and then started flying
planes over Washington. They probably fulfill all the stereotypes of the welcome tourist
or businessman.
Why do all the terrorists come from Europe?
Doesn’t the same apply in the USA? Or is
everybody there an angel? Are all the stories
in the media about white trash terrorism a
myth? Who told them that I want this trash
here? What nationality was the guy with the
bomb in Oklahoma? An Arab? He was an
ordinary American citizen! Was he alone?
The FBI believes not, so how do I know that
his accomplices are not in Europe by now?
To go further, according to my principals
all these religious preachers that often visit
Europe preaching the right way of life adding more money to their bank accounts and
funding the Republican Party and this administration are equally dangerous with all
the fundamentalist Muslim ayatollahs! They
come here and demand to meet state officials
and when they are not welcome they scream
prejudice, if that could be possible.
The US administration obviously underestimates the power of tourism as well. For how
long will people accept this humiliation? I
have had enough and I feel that this administration has insulted me too often and shows
no sign of relenting. So now, please tell me
what’s the difference with the old USSR?
Hating Bin Laden
by Thanos Kalamidas
2006-09-11
the e-magazine
11th of September 2006
Over the past
days and for
a few more to
come there are
going to be a
lot of articles
commemorating the events of
September 11th,
2001. The international answer to Bin Laden’s attacks
was an invasion of Afghanistan and the
global result of those events is that nothing
has ever been the same since that day five
years ago.
That day nearly 4,000 innocent people died
while the rest of us held our breath watching live on television. The terror had come to
everybody’s house across Europe and America. Nobody could hit the almighty America
and still it had just happened. The king was
naked! Security, the word that accompanies
our mighty western civilization, collapsed
with the Twin Towers, nobody is secure anymore.
Still, I’m not going to talk about security because it saddens me that after a century of
fighting to secure an individual’s freedom
and independence of thought we are in danger of losing it. I’m not going to talk about
the chance Bin Laden and his followers gave
to the most conservative parts of society to
rise up and become a state; that’s something
all the magazines and newspapers will talk
about anyway. What bothers me is that he
made me hate him and that’s the worst thing
he could do!
Usually we despise anybody who tries to
force his will; we despise Hitler even though
he’s been dead for nearly sixty years. We despise Stalin and Amin Dada. But Bin Laden
made the difference by giving me a face to
hate! I hate him because the man made me
hate somebody! I hate him because of what
he made me.
All my life I’ve been the person to be open
to other’s opinions and beliefs. For me, some
words of Themistocles have been a personal philosophy: “You may hit me, but listen
to me first.” Respect other’s opinion, even
though you don’t agree and Bin Laden came
and whipped everything away. He told me
that I know what’s right and I’m forcing it to
you by killing people.
What happened in Lebanon a few weeks ago
was not the first dramatic event in the Middle
East. On the contrary, it was a link in a chain
of events that began half a century ago. The
pictures of dead children were breathtaking
and every time you heard on the news that
another kid was dead you were felt as though
it was your own. The big difference this time
was September 11th.
Israel keeps striking defenseless Palestinians in the most unreasonable way over the
last forty years and every single time the rest
of the world was rising from the events. For
forty years Israel has all the excuses for these
strikes and the world is dismissing them. This
time Israel’s excuses seemed so poor that
even they could not believe them, but this
time the whole world was numb. The ghost
of Bin Laden had changed everything. And
had changed me as well.
My constant reaction, till now, was to get an-
continues >>>>
gry; how can they let that happen? That would
be my reaction when thinking of a UN that
does nothing, an EU that is just watching as
kids are getting killed and I would blame the
President of the USA first. However, this time I
understood why France was not in such a hurry
to get involved. I wanted them to get involved
and I was really glad when they did finally decide to move but I could understand what they
were scared of.
Five years after 9-11, there is still fighting in
Afghanistan. The Taliban are returning stronger
than ever, Iran’s dictatorship is still there threatening us a nuclear plan and arrogant ignorance
that only dictatorships have, and Iraq is in the
middle of a civil war whether the Americans
like it or not. Bin Laden is here using the sys-
tem that created him against them. Bin Laden
the former CIA operative in Afghanistan, the
fighter against the evil Russian bear is here
fighting with the same weapons and practicing
the same methods they taught him to fight the
Russians.
For the next few days we are all going to see
the pictures and the videos of the burning towers. We are going to see families crying asking
why and, probably somewhere in his cave, Bin
Laden will be thinking that he took revenge
for all the dead Palestinian kids. He missed
the point, for generations Palestinian mothers
will hate him because he made people like me
hate him and understand when France becomes
numb instead of running to help.
Tarja Halonen and the ASEM
by Thanos Kalamidas
2006-09-13
The Finnish president
Tarja Halonen made me
proud to be living in Finland with her remarks on
human rights issues during her opening speech for
the Europe Asian summit
ASEM in Helsinki, Finland. I have to admit that I was expecting her to make these
remarks about the human rights, especially
after similar humanitarian remarks she
made concerning the catastrophe in Lebanon.
mental issues and especially the support and
commitment of the summit to the Kyoto protocol. However, even that was only for reasons
of diversion since the country that causes over
40% of the problem refuses to sign.
Ovi magazine has discussed the case of Aung
San Suu Ky in many ways and we have joined
with others in demanding her freedom and the
restoration of democracy in her poor country,
so hearing Mrs Halonen reminding everybody
in the summit made us more than happy.
The truth is hiding behind the words: “The
whole summit was mostly a test of limits between the two sides”, since there are too many
issues between them where Europe is directly
involved or through American interests in the
area, yet the Asian countries wanted to make
sure where Europe stands.
Sadly, the Finnish president’s words for human rights were in vain after the Chinese announced more restrictions on the foreign journalists visiting the country to curb the reports
of its appalling human rights. It is a paradox
for the host of the next Olympics, a symbol of
democracy, equality and protection of human
rights, to impose strict restrictions on all media outlets operating within its borders…how
can it happen?
So, is the financial relationship enough to connect two continents with so many differences?
There stands the hypocrisy of our times. One
country restricts the human rights and another
is ruled in the name of democracy by a general
who came to power via a coup.
www.ovimagazine.com
The whole summit was mostly an investigation, or perhaps a test of the limits, between
the two sides and the only positive result from
this meeting was the agreement on environ-
Meanwhile, Finland proved that it can be a
good host and the EU introduced two new candidate members into the big family, Bulgaria
and Romania, while the Asian side ASEAN,
added India, Pakistan and Mongolia to their
side. Otherwise, there were no commitments.
So why did they meet?
North Korea is one. Europe, Asia and America are all involved in this carousel with North
Korea and all of them want the problem to
vanish. Nobody can predict what will happen
with this unpredictable state, so it is probably
best to pretend it never existed. Another problem is the increasing presence of the NATO
army and, in extent, the US presence in Asia,
with the excuse of Afghanistan and the ‘War
against Terror’.
Energy, despite their ecological worries, is
another issue. On one side is a burning Middle East and Russia is playing games leaving
the Asian countries in deep water, especially
countries like Japan without any energy resources. These conversations took place in the
shadows of hotels’ alleys without a worry for
the human rights president and without us who
can only suspect what’s really going on.
the e-magazine
Nikos Kazantzakis: The truth
of an alleged excommunication
by Anna Oistros
2006-09-13
For over fifty years since
his death, everybody believed that the Nobel Prize
winning Greek author
Nikos Kazantzakis had
been
excommunicated
from the Greek Orthodox
Church. This was not true.
Πατριαρχείου να βρεθεί ένας άνθρωπος
που εκτίμησε το έργο του Καζαντζάκη, ο
Αθηναγόρας.
The article includes confirmation from the
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate that the excommunication of Nikos Kazantzakis was never
approved.
Την αλήθεια για την υπόθεση του αφορισμού
την ήξεραν λίγοι (ανώτατοι κληρικοί κυρίως)
την μέρα της κηδείας του Καζαντζάκη. Και
κείνοι την φύλαξαν και την έκρυψαν ευλαβικά.
Ο καθένας για τους δικούς του λόγους. Χρόνια
μετά μία δημοσιογραφική έρευνα προσπάθησε
να την φέρει στο φως αλλά πάλι η ιστορική
συγκυρία εμπόδισε το εγχείρημα. Τελικά η
αλήθεια έλαμψε το 2003 (!) μόλις, μαζί με
το παρόν επίσημο έγγραφο του Φαναρίου.
Εν ολίγοις, ο Καζαντζάκης επίσημα δεν
αφορίστηκε ποτέ. Κι αυτό γιατί το τυπικό της
διαδικασίας του αφορισμού απαιτούσε μετά
την λήψη της απόφασης από την Ιερά Σύνοδο
να υπάρξει και υπογραφή του Οικουμενικού
πατριάρχη. Και ο Αθηναγόρας σαν είδε το
αίτημα οργίστηκε. Το καταχώνιασε στο
συρτάρι του και δεν το υπέγραψε ποτέ. Παρά
το γεγονός ότι την ίδια εποχή ο Πάπας με το
γνωστό του “αλάθητο” δεν φέρθηκε ανάλογα.
Ο “Τελευταίος Πειρασμός” μπήκε στο Index
Librorum Prohibitorum του Βατικανού.
The text is currently only in Greek, but we will
add an English translation soon.
Η αρχή των εκκλησιαστικών διώξεων για τον
Καζαντζάκη
Στις συνειδήσεις των πολλών ο Νίκος
Καζαντζάκης έμεινε αφορισμένος της
Εκκλησίας για το έργο και τις ιδέες του. Η
αλήθεια όμως είναι διαφορετική. Όχι πως
δεν προσπάθησε το Ιερατείο της εποχής
να εξοντώσει την “απειλητική” σκέψη του
Τελευταίου Πειρασμού ή να εξοστρακίσει
τον δημιουργό της. Αλλά τύχη αγαθή
το ‘θελε στον θρόνο του Οικουμενικού
Η εκκλησιαστική μάνητα σε βάρος του
Καζαντζάκη ξέσπασε επισήμως το 1928, όταν
ήρθε στη χώρα ο Πανάι Ισράτι για να μιλήσει
μαζί με τον Γληνό και τον Καζαντζάκη για
την Ε.Σ.Σ.Δ. Την ίδια περίοδο ο Γληνός
είχε αναλάβει προσπάθεια εκπαιδευτικής
μεταρρύθμισης στο Μαράσλειο. Έλεγε
συχνά ότι η εκπαιδευτική μεταρρύθμιση
απαιτεί μεταρρυθμίσεις στην πολιτική και την
Many Greeks think that it was a decision
made without proof and forced upon them by
the conservative part of the Greek Orthodox
Church, along with the support of the dictatorship.
Anna Oistros, an Ovi team member, has compiled text and photographs that conclusively
proof that Athinagoras, the Greek Orthodox
Patriarch at the time, never signed the ex-communication and he even had Nikos Kazantzakis books upon his private bookcase.
continues >>>>
θρησκειολογική προσέγγιση.
Ο Βάρναλης περιγράφει τα γεγονότα της
εποχής γράφοντας:«Το σύνθημα της επίθεσης
ενάντια στην Ακαδημία και στο Μαράσλειο το
έδωσε η «Εστία» η οποία μ’ ένα κύριο άρθρο
άρχισε τις κατάρες και τους αφορισμούς.
Τίτλος: Κοινωνικό σκάνδαλο! Μέσα σε δυο
ανώτατα εκπαιδευτικά ιδρύματα (Παιδαγωγική
Ακαδημία και Μαράσλειο) γίνεται αντεθνική
εργασία! Εκεί «υπονομεύονται» τα τιμιότατα
της φυλής! Εκεί ονομάζονται σάπια τα ιδανικά
της πατρίδας, κουρελόπανο η σημαία μας! Εκεί
βρίζεται η... Παναγία!”.
Τα ανέκδοτα της εποχής είναι χαρακτηριστικά.
Τα υποδαυλίζουν οι “βολεμένοι” κάθε εξουσίας.
Και της εκκλησιαστικής περιλαμβανομένης.
Το πιο γνωστό είναι εκείνο με τον παππού και
την εγγονή του, η οποία ξαφνικά αποφασίζει
να ... ουρήσει δημοσίως.
Ο παππούς την ρωτά εμβρόντητος που τα έμαθε
αυτά τα .. κόλπα. και η μικρή απαντά: Στο
Μαράσλειο! ΄Ετσι μας διδάξανε οι καθηγητές
μας. Να είμαστε «υπεράνω των προλήψεων».
Ο Καζαντζάκης -νομίζω- ήταν, αρχικά
τουλάχιστον, κάτι σαν τις σημερινές
«παράπλευρες απώλειες» των πολέμων.
Τουλάχιστον έτσι ξεκίνησε. Μετείχε στην
συγκεκριμένη εκδήλωση όπου παρενέβη η
Ασφάλεια, η οποία απέλασε αμέσως τον
Ιστράτι, δίκασε τον Γληνό και τον Καζαντζάκη
τον παρέδωσε στο ... Ιερατείο της εποχής.
Η Εκκλησία εν συνεχεία απλώς έκανε αυτό
που κάνει ανά τους αιώνες (συχνά με άχαρο
τρόπο): περιφρούρησε το μαντρί. Κι ο
Καζαντζάκης ήταν ένα μαύρο πρόβατο που
βάλθηκε να σκέφτεται και είχε και το θράσος
να γράφει σκέψεις που ξένιζαν. Τα κείμενά
του δεν ευλογούσαν κεριά και καντηλέρια,
παραμυθάκια και μύθους, ναούς και ράσα.
Άρα συνειρμικά ήταν επικίνδυνος. Άσε που
στα μάτια πολλών οι ιδέες του φάνταζαν
αριστερών φρονημάτων. Η κρίση κορυφώθηκε
με τα έργα «Ο Χριστός ξανασταυρώνεται»,
«Ο Φτωχούλης του Θεού» και κυρίως με
τον «Τελευταίο Πειρασμό». Ο Καζαντζάκης
βρέθηκε στο στόχαστρο λυσσαλέων επιθέσεων
που εκπορεύονταν από κάποιους Ιεράρχες
(κρατούντες της τότε Συνόδου όμως) και από
μερίδα του Αθηναϊκού Τύπου. Στον αντίποδα
στεκόταν πλάι του μία άλλοτε φοβισμένη κι
άλλοτε επαναστατημένη ελίτ του πνεύματος
και της διανόησης που είτε ψέλλιζε και δεν
ακουγόταν είτε κραύγαζε και δυσκολευόταν να
την ακολουθήσει η κοινωνία της εποχής. Ήδη
έχει διωχθεί δύο φορές: Η πρώτη με τον Γληνό
που αθωώνονται αμφότεροι και η δεύτερη το
1930 για την «Ασκητική» του. Η δεύτερη αυτή
δίκη όμως δεν έγινε ποτέ.
Πάντως, στα μέσα του 1954 μία νέα αφορμή
βρίσκεται από πλευράς εκκλησίας. Ο
Μητροπολίτης Χίου υποβάλλει έκθεση στην
Ιερά Σύνοδο για το βιβλίο «Καπετάν Μιχάλης»
το οποίο θεωρεί αντεθνικόν και υβριστικόν
για την Εκκλησία και ζητά να αφορισθεί ο
Καζαντζάκης.
Ο Καπετάν Μιχάλης .. στην Ιερά Εξέταση
Πολλοί νομίζουν ακόμη ότι η αφορμή ήταν
ο Τελευταίος Πειρασμός. Αλλά όχι. Το
Χριστεπώνυμον εκκλησίασμα έθιξε ο καπετάν
Μιχάλης. Η επιστολή μάλιστα προς το Ιερατείο
ανέφερε ότι το βιβλίο αυτό εξευτελίζει τον
αγώνα των Κρητών (!!) γιατί περιγράφει τον
καπετάν Μιχάλη ως μέθυσο και τον Πολυξίγκη
ως ερωτύλο. Και προσβάλει και την εκκλησία
γιατί στο κεφάλαιο με την κατήχηση της Εμινέ
εκείνη λέει ότι ο Θεός είναι γέρος κοτσωνάτος
και ο Χριστός ο γλυκός, ντεληκανής γιός του.
Η Εμινέ βέβαια με έναν χαριτωμένα αφελή
τρόπο μεταφέρει τις περισσότερες απορίες του
κοινού νου για την ευρέως γνωστή ιστορία του
Χριστού. Και αυτό σαφώς ήταν ενοχλητικό. Η
Ιερά Σύνοδος πείθεται εύκολα και ο αφορισμός
ετοιμάζεται. Το αίτημα μεταφέρεται στο
Οικουμενικό Πατριαρχείο. Μέχρι πριν από
τρία χρόνια εικάζαμε όλοι ότι ο αφορισμός του
Καζαντζάκη ήταν μία ακόμη μελανή σελίδα στην
ιστορία της εκκλησίας. Κι όμως. Ο αφορισμός
δεν ίσχυσε ποτέ. Γιατί όσο υπήρχαν πάντα
σκοταδιστές στα εκκλησιαστικά πράγματα άλλο
τόσο (και συχνά περισσότερο) υπήρχαν και
φωτισμένα μυαλά, ανοιχτά και έντιμα.
Η
Χανιώτισσα
δημοσιογράφος
Ελένη
Κατσουλάκη σε μία έρευνά της το 1972
πληροφορήθηκε την αλήθεια. Και την έγραψε.
Αλλά ουδείς ενδιαφέρθηκε να την δημοσιεύσει.
Για να ακριβολογώ όλοι έδειξαν προθυμία για το
αντίθετο. Η ίδια το 2003 δημοσίευσε την ιστορία
στο περιοδικό του Παντείου. Μία ιστορία που
προσπαθούσε να γνωστοποιήσει για 30 σχεδόν
χρόνια και δεν την άφηναν.
Μη αφορισμός με τη … βούλα του
Πατριαρχείου
“Το 1954 άρχισε ένας πρωτόγονος πνευματικός
Μακαρθισμός εναντίον του μεγάλου συγγραφέα
Νίκου Καζαντζάκη που για μισό αιώνα τίμησε
και εξύψωσε την Ελλάδα και χαλύβδωσε την
παγκόσμια λογοτεχνία. Ο Πάπας της Ρώμης
απαγόρευσε την κυκλοφορία του ΤΕΛΕΥΤΑΙΟΥ
ΠΕΙΡΑΣΜΟΥ.
Ο
Καζαντζάκης
έστειλε
τηλεγράφημα στο Βατικανό με μια φράση
στα Λατινικά του Χριστιανού απολογιστή
Τεντουλιάν. “Ad tuu,. Domine, tribunal appello: Υποβάλλω την έκκληση μου στην δική σου
δικαστική κρίση, Κύριε!
Τον ίδιο χρόνο ο Αρχιεπίσκοπος Αμερικής
αποδοκιμάζει με αηδία τις “βλαστήμιες” του
μαέστρου της λογοτεχνίας κατά του θεανθρώπου
και ζητά να μην επιτραπεί η μετάφραση των
βιβλίων του στα Ελληνικά. Οι δημοσιογράφοι
της εφημερίδας ΕΣΤΙΑ εκφράζουν την
αγανάκτησή τους και την προτίμησή τους
στον Μακαρθισμό, παρά τα “βρωμόλογα του
ανήθικου Καζαντζάκη” και αποκαλούν αλήτες
τους διάσημους διανοούμενους υποστηρικτές
continues >>>>
της ελεύθερης σκέψης.
Ο Μητροπολίτης της Χίου κάνει αίτηση στην
Ιερά Σύνοδο απαιτώντας τον αφορισμό του
άθεου και την ποινική καταδίκη του από το
Υπουργείο Δικαιοσύνης. Ο Μητροπολίτης
Θεσσαλονίκης
Παντελεήμων
επίσης
καταδικάζει τα βιβλία του βλάσφημου.
Η Ιερά Σύνοδος καταράστηκε με μίσος
και αφόρισε τον Καζαντζάκη. Μα για να
γίνει έγκυρος ο αφορισμός του χρειαζόταν
την συγκατάθεση του Πατριαρχείου
της Κωνσταντινούπολης. Η Ανωτάτη
εξουσία της Ορθόδοξης εκκλησίας έκανε
αίτηση στον Πατριάρχη Αθηναγόρα της
Κωνσταντινούπολης και ζήτησε να αφορισθεί
επίσημα ο “γιος του Σατανά”. Συνάμα ζήτησε
επιμόνως την απαγόρευση των αισχρών
έργων του και την ποινική τιμωρία του από
τον Άρειο πάγο, το Εφετικό δικαστήριο και
τον εισαγγελέα Αθηνών. Ο Καζαντζάκης
απαντά ατάραχος στην ανώτατη ιεραρχία:
“Με καταραστήκατε Άγιοι Ιερείς. Εγώ σας
δίνω την ευχή μου. Ελπίζω η συνείδηση
σας να ‘ναι καθαρή σαν την δική μου και να
‘σαστε ηθικοί και θρησκευτικοί όπως εγώ.”
στην πρωτεύουσα και έδινε με το κιλό
προμελετημένες συνεντεύξεις.
Ένα μοναχικό βραβείο ειρήνης και κανένα
(!) νόμπελ
Η σωρός του Νίκου Καζαντζάκη έφτασε
στην Αθηνά στις 4 Νοέμβριου του 1957.
Ξεπετάχτηκαν μονομιάς αλαφιασμένοι παπάδες
και επίσκοποι της Ελλάδας. Γούρλωσαν τα
σβέλτα ματάκια τους, μούγκρισαν τα θεριά
μέσα τους και αφήνιασε σαν μουλάρι η
στείρα καρδιά τους. Πέθανε ο Αντίχριστος,
αναφώνησαν.
Το 1956 απονέμεται στον Καζαντζάκη το
διεθνές βραβείο ειρήνης. Ο ραδιοσταθμός
της Αγγλίας BBC ζητά από τον ονομαστό
συγγραφέα συνέντευξη για το βιβλίο του
Αγγλία. Ο Καζαντζάκης αρνείται με πείσμα
τη συνέντευξη ως διαμαρτυρία ενάντια
στις βιαιότητες των Άγγλων στην Κύπρο. Η
τελετή απονομής γίνεται στην Βιέννη από
το Παγκόσμιο Συμβούλιο Ειρήνης. «Η τιμή
ανήκει στην Κρήτη» θα πει ο Καζαντζάκης
αλλά η ελληνική πρεσβεία θα λάμψει δια
της απουσίας της όπως και όλοι οι έλληνες
επίσημοι. Στο τέλος της χρονιάς ο Φτωχούλης
του Θεού κυκλοφορεί ήδη μεταφρασμένος
σε πολλές Ευρωπαϊκές γλώσσες. Οι κριτικές
του διθυραμβικές. Πολλοί μιλούν για νόμπελ
και θα ήταν πιο σίγουροι αν δεν ήξεραν το
κλίμα που επικρατούσε στην Ελλάδα για
τα έργο του συγγραφέα. Στην εφημερίδα
Άφτενπόστεν του Όσλο ένας κριτικός ρίχνει
το σύνθημα: Δεν χρειάζεται νόμπελ. Αυτό
που νοιώσαμε όλοι εμείς που διαβάσαμε το
βιβλίο είναι η ανταμοιβή του.
Η αλήθεια είναι πως ο ίδιος ο Καζαντζάκης
δεν χρειάζεται τίποτα πια. Παλεύει χρόνια
με την λευχαιμία και στις 26 Oκτωβρίου
κουρασμένος πια φεύγει για το μεγάλο
ταξίδι. Η σωρός του μεταφέρεται στην
Αθήνα αρχικά. Αλλά ο κλήρος ξεσηκώνεται
και πάλι.
Η Ελένη Κατσουλάκη στην έρευνά της
γράφει:
«Οι εφημερίδες των Αθηνών ανακοίνωσαν
αθόρυβα με μικρά γράμματα τον θάνατο
του μεγάλου συγγραφέα . Άλλωστε, είχαν
πιο ενδιαφέροντα γεγονότα να γιομίσουν
τις πρώτες σελίδες τους. Η διάσημη
Αμερικανίδα σεξοβόμβα Τζέην Μάνσφιλντ
μόλις είχε φτάσει κουνιστή και λυγιστή
Ο Αρχιεπίσκοπος των Αθηνών Θεόκλητος
άρπαξε την ευκαιρία να πάρει εκδίκηση
ενάντια στον αθυρόστομο υβριστή και
συκοφάντη. Σήκωσε την ιερά του ράβδο και
έδωσε διαταγή να μην επιτραπεί να μπει η
σωρός του βλάσφημου νεκρού σε Αθηναϊκό
ναό!
Η ορθόδοξος σύλλογος ΑΘΑΝΑΣΙΟΣ έστειλε
τηλεγράφημα στον Μητροπολίτη Κρήτης και
σε όλη την ιεραρχία να αρνηθούν σφοδρά όλα
τα ιερά μυστήρια στον “αντίχριστο νεκρό”
και να μην επιτραπεί η κηδεία του σε κανένα
νεκροταφείο της εκκλησιάς. Η σβελτάδα και
το τετραπέρατο μυαλό το Αριστοτέλη Ωνάση
έσωσε την Ελλάδα από τον εξευτελισμό και
την εθνική ταπείνωση. Το ίδιο απόγευμα
διέθεσε ένα έκτακτο δρομολόγιο με αεροπλάνο
της Ολυμπιακής και μετέφερε την σορό του
γίγαντα της λογοτεχνίας στο Ηράκλειο της
Κρήτης
«Από φλόγες η Κρήτη ζωσμένη»
Η κηδεία του Νίκου Καζαντζάκη στο Ηράκλειο
έμελλε να είναι η αρχή της σταδιοδρομίας
ενός άλλου «γραφιά» που επίσης απουσιάζει
πλέον από τα εγκόσμια: του Φρέντυ
Γερμανού. Νεαρός ρεπόρτερ τότε στάλθηκε
από την εφημερίδα Ελευθερία εσπευσμένα ως
ανταποκριτής για να καλύψει τα αναπάντεχα
γεγονότα. «Σάστισα, έλεγε χρόνια μετά. Ένα
νησί ολόκληρο ακουμπούσε στο φέρετρο
του Καζαντζάκη με σεβασμό αλλά και με
λιονταρίσια τόλμη. Ένοιωθες συνάμα τον
σεβασμό στον νεκρό και την αγανάκτηση
της διαδήλωσης. Σε όλη την διαδρομή ως το
Μαρτινέγκο είχα την αίσθηση ότι είχε πεθάνει
ένας εθνικός ήρωας. Όχι «ήρωας» στα χαρτιά
και τα πρωτόκολλα αλλά στις συνειδήσεις των
απλών ανθρώπων».
Τον νεκρό συνόδευαν οι συγγενείς του, ο
Γεώργιος Παπανδρέου, ο Αλέξης Μινωτής, ο
Μάνος Κατράκης, ο Χατζηκυριάκος Γκίκας,
ο Νορβηγός Νομπελίστας Μάξ Τάου και ο
Παντελής Πρεβελάκης
Η Ελένη Κατσουλάκη καταγράφει:
«Καθώς το αεροπλάνο προσγειώθηκε στο
αεροδρόμιο του Ηρακλείου, μια τεράστια
ανθρωποθάλασσα υποδέχτηκε τον γιο του
Ψηλορείτη.
Χιλιάδες Καστρινοί, άνθρωποι της παγκόσμιας
τέχνης, του θεάτρου, της πολιτικής και των
τοπικών αρχών περίμεναν με θλίψη τον
διάσημο νεκρό. Το φέρετρο τοποθετήθηκε
στον Μητροπολιτικό ναό του Άγιου Μήνα με
την έγκριση του Μητροπολίτη της Κρήτης
Ευγένιου που αψήφησε τις απειλές της
Ιεραρχίας και έψαλε μια σύντομη επιμνημόσυνο
δέηση. Βρακοφόροι Κρητικοί και κοπελιές του
Λυκείου με εθνικές ενδυμασίες και μαύρες
μαντίλες στάθηκαν δίπλα στο φέρετρο.
Εκατοντάδες στέφανα κατατέθηκαν στην
τιμή του Κρητικού και το λαϊκό προσκύνημα
κράτησε μέχρι αργά τα μεσάνυχτα.
Εν τω μεταξύ, το Δημοτικό Συμβούλιο του
Ηρακλείου σε έκτακτη συνέλευση του ψήφισε
να ταφεί ο μεγάλος νεκρός με δημόσια δαπάνη
στον Ενετικό προμαχώνα του Μαρτινέγκο.
Σκάφτηκε βιαστικά μια χωματένια λακκούβα
στη κορυφή του τείχους - ένας στιγματισμένος
ανευλόγητος τάφος αντιφατικός με όλα τα
ιερά ήθη και τους κανόνες της Ορδοδοξίας.
5 Νοεμβρίου 1957. Ο Μητροπολιτικός
continues >>>>
ναός του Άγιου Μήνα στις 11 το πρωί ήταν
ασφυκτικά γιομάτος. Κάθε δρόμος και σοκάκι
του Κάστρου είχε σκεπαστεί από μια τεράστια
πυκνή ανθρωποθάλασσα που θρηνούσε
σιωπηλά και με αξιοπρέπεια τον μεγάλο
νεκρό. Στα μπαλκόνια και τα καταστήματα
κυμάτιζαν Εθνικές θλιμμένες σημαίες.
Έκλεισαν τα σχολειά, άνοιξαν παράθυρα και
πόρτες και ξεμύτισαν έξω οι Καστρινοί για να
αποχαιρετήσουν τον συμπατριώτη τους—την
καυτή ανάσα της Κρήτης . Ο Μητροπολίτης
Ευγένιος έψαλε την νεκρώσιμη ακολουθία
παρουσία του πρωτοσύγκελου αρχιμανδρίτη
Φιλόθεου. Ο δήμαρχος του Ηρακλείου, ο
συναρχηγός των Φιλελευθέρων Γεώργιος
Παπανδρέου, Ο Νορβηγός συγγραφέας
Μαξ Τάου, πρυτάνεις του Πανεπιστημίου, ο
Υπουργός Παιδείας και Θρησκευμάτων και
διάφοροι λογοτεχνικοί σύλλογοι προσφώνησαν
και τίμησαν με γενναιοδωρία τον μεγαλύτερο
λογοτέχνη του αιώνα μας. Ανάμεσα τους ο
λόγιος της Κρήτης Μενέλαος Παρλαμάς.
Η Δημοτική μουσική του Κάστρου προηγήθηκε
της νεκρικής πομπής παίζοντας τον Κρητικό
ύμνο .Το φέρετρο συνόδευσαν βρακοφόροι και
κοπελιές του Λυκείου Ελληνίδων κρατώντας
τα κατατεθέντα στέφανα .
Ακολούθησαν η χήρα του νεκρού Ελένη
Καζαντζάκη, οι αδελφές του Αναστασία και
Μαρία , και Έλληνες επίσημοι. Πήραν σειρά
οι φοιτητές της παιδαγωγικής Ακαδημίας και
άνθρωποι των γραμμάτων και του θεάτρου,
κρατώντας τα βιβλία του Καζαντζάκη και πίσω
ακολούθησαν χιλιάδες λαού. Σαν τοποθετήθηκε
ο νεκρός μέσα στον πρόχειρο τάφο στην γη
που τον γέννησε, η Ελλάδα ολόκληρη έγειρε
το κεφάλι και τον μοιρολόγησε. Αυτή την
συγκινητική εικόνα ζωγράφισαν οι Ελληνικές
εφημερίδες. Η Φιλαρμονική του Δήμου έπαιξε
ξανά με δέηση τον ύμνο της Κρήτης : “Από
φλόγες η Κρήτη ζωσμένη, τα βαριά της τα
σίδερα σπα, και σαν πρώτα χτυπιέται χτυπά,
και γοργή κατεβαίνει”.
Ρεζίλι γινήκαμε, έγραφε ο Καντιώτης
Μα το άψυχο σώμα του Καζαντζάκη δεν πρόλαβε
να αναπαυτεί στην γαλήνη της αιωνιότητας. Την
ίδια κιόλας μέρα ο αρχιμανδρίτης Αυγουστίνος
Καντιώτης στο Ορθόδοξο περιοδικό της
Κοζάνης ΣΠΙΘΑ σφεντόνισε μίζερο φαρμάκι
ενάντια στους Έλληνες επίσημους που τόλμησαν
να παρασταθούν στην κηδεία του “ανήθικου
βλάστημου του Χριστού” και έγραψε με
παράφορη οργή: Ρεζίλια των σκυλιών γίναμε.
Η συντέλεια των αιώνων έφτασε! Βόθρος
ρέει από τους ακάθαρτους ποταμούς από τις
σελίδες του ανήθικου. Σήμερα η Ελλάς κηδεύει
με δημόσιον δαπάνη ποιόν (;) τον υβριστή
της εκκλησίας μας . Φρίκη, ούτε ο υπόνομος
των Αθηνών δεν θα ανέδιδε τέτοια δυσωδία.
Έφτασε η Δευτέρα παρουσία ! Το θλιβερότερο:
ο Μητροπολίτης Ευγένιος παρόλο που
ειδοποιήθηκε αυστηρά από την Ιεραρχία άφησε
τον βλάστημο να μπει μέσα σε Χριστιανική
εκκλησία και παρέστη στην κηδεία του! Εύγε
Άγιε της Κρήτης Μητροπολίτη Ευγένιε!
Η εκκλησία της Κρήτης έδωσε εξετάσεις
σήμερα και μηδενίστηκε στην συνείδηση της
Ορθοδοξίας! Ντροπή σας, χυδαιολόγοι της
πίστης μας. Να πάτε στην Χάβρες, να πάτε στα
τζαμιά αλλά να μην πατήσετε τα πόδια σας σε
ιερόν ναό της εκκλησίας μας πρυτάνεις των
Πανεπιστημίων , λογοτέχνες και πολιτικοί . Αν
ζούσαν σήμερα οι τρεις Ιεράρχες θα σας είχαν
αφορίσει όλους σας!
Η Ελένη Κατσουλάκη εξομολογείται: Ι972,
λίγο μετά το Πάσχα. Το περιοδικό ΤΑΞΙΔΙ
των Αθηνών μ’ έστειλε στην Κρήτη να κάνω
ένα ρεπορτάζ για τον τουρισμό. Ο πρώτος μου
σταθμός ήταν το Ηράκλειο – η γενέτειρα του
Καζαντζάκη ! Λωλάθηκα , παλάβωσα, έχασα
το μυαλό μου. Ο πνευματικός μου έρωτας
με τον Καζαντζάκη με παρέσυρε σαν θύελλα
στον ανεμοστρόβιλο της πανούργας καρδιάς
μου. Τίποτα δεν σταματούσε τον ταύρο μέσα
μου που ζητούσε να μονομαχήσει με το
κόκκινο πανί της αλήθειας και της δικαίωσης.
Μια έρευνα για την κηδεία και τον αφορισμό
του Κρητικού συγγραφέα θα ηρεμούσε το
σαρκοβόρο σκουλήκι που μ’ έτρωγε μέσα μου.
Κατηφόρισα σκυθρωπά τους δρόμους της
πρωτεύουσας και σεργιάνισα άσκοπα τα στενά
στα σοκάκια της.
Το ιστορικό μουσείο Κρήτης που φιλοξενούσε
δυο αίθουσες με προσωπικά αντικείμενα του
Καζαντζάκη δεν ήταν πολύ μακριά. Περπάτησα
μέχρι εκεί με λαίμαργη λαχτάρα. Ο Ανδρέας
Καλοκαιρινός -που δώρισε το κτήριο στο
μουσείο Κρήτης- ήταν ένας σπάνιος άνθρωπος.
Μορφωμένος,
αξιοπρεπής,
ευγενικός.
Οσφράνθηκε την συμπόνια μου για τον
Καζαντζάκη από την πρώτη στιγμή και ένιωσε
την έντονη ταραχή που φώλιαζε μέσα μου. Μια
μέρα καθώς το ‘φερε η κουβέντα τον ρώτησα
για τον αφορισμό του Καζαντζάκη. Ο Ανδρέας
σοβαρεύτηκε μεμιάς και κούνησε αρνητικά το
κεφάλι. Κάτι πήγε να πει, αλλά κοντοστάθηκε.
-Κάτι ξέρετε και δεν θέλετε να μιλήσετε?
- Πήγαινε στην Αρχιεπίσκοπο της Κρήτης Ευγένιο
να του μιλήσεις, μου απάντησε επιτακτικά. Μην
του πεις ότι σε έστειλα εγώ. Είσαι τετραπέρατη
Κρητικιά, θα βρεις ένα τρόπο να τον ψαρέψεις.
Τότε και μόνο θα μάθεις πράγματα για τον
Καζαντζάκη πού ‘ναι θαμμένα χρόνια . Ούτε μια
χούφτα άνθρωποι στον κόσμο δεν τα ξέρουν.
Αν τον καταφέρεις να σου μιλήσει, θα είσαι η
μεγαλύτερη κατάσκοπος του αιώνα ! Μετά έλα
εδώ και θα σου ‘χω την μεγαλύτερη έκπληξη της
ζωής σου—το πιο πολύτιμο υλικό για την ερευνά
σου για τον Καζαντζάκη!
Ένα μυστικό που ούτε μια χούφτα άνθρωποι δεν
το ξέρουν
Το ίδιο κιόλας απόγευμα βρέθηκα στα σκαλιά
της Αρχιεπισκοπής Κρήτης. Έτρεμαν τα χέρια
μου και τα πόδια μου λύγισαν. Σίμωσα ένα
βυζανιάρικο παπαδάκι, όμορφο ντροπαλό
και καλοσυνάτο. Του ‘πα ότι δουλεύω για το
περιοδικό ΤΑΞΙΔΙ και θέλω να πάρω συνέντευξη
από τον Αρχιεπίσκοπο. Ήξερα ότι δεν θα με δεχτεί
αν δεν ήταν κάτι εκκλησιαστικό και ρώτησα τι
είναι η μεγαλύτερη αδυναμία του Αρχιεπισκόπου
που θα τον αναγκάσει να μου παραχωρήσει μια
συνέντευξη.
-Το μεγαλύτερο όνειρο του Αρχιεπισκόπου,
ψιθύρισε ταραγμένο το παπαδάκι χωρίς να με
κοιτάζει είναι να χτίσει μια σχολή Βυζαντινής
εικονογραφίας και να την ονομάσει EL GRECO
σε τιμή του Κρητικού ζωγράφου Δομήνικου
Θεοτοκόπουλου.
-Σε παρακαλώ, μπορείς να με βοηθήσεις? Θέλω
να γράψω ένα άρθρο για την σχολή και την
ευγενή προσπάθεια του Αρχιεπισκόπου. Θα
μπορέσεις να μου κλείσεις ραντεβού? Θα σου
έχω ευγνωμοσύνη για πάντα!
Το καλοσυνάτο, αγνό πρόσωπο του νεανικού
κληρικού γύρισε πίσω σε δέκα λεπτά, κατακόκκινο,
με τα μάτια χαμηλωμένα.
-Αύριο στις 11 το πρωί σας έκλεισα ραντεβού με
τον Αρχιεπίσκοπο!
Η καρδιά μου με ένα σάλτο χόρεψε Κρητικό
πεντοζάλη στον ρυθμό μιας αόρατης λύρας και
στα κρυφά τραγούδησε μια τρυφερή μαντινάδα.
Μου ‘ρθε να αγκαλιάσω το παπαδάκι και να το
φιλήσω από την χαρά μου, αλλά κρατήθηκα. Από
νευρικότητα, είχα σταθεί από τις δέκα το πρωί
έξω από την Αρχιεπισκοπή. Παρόλο που ψιχάλιζε,
άρχισα να ιδρώνω. Το ευγενικό παπαδάκι με
πλησίασε αργότερα ντροπαλά και με οδήγησε
στην αίθουσα που με περίμενε ο Αρχιεπίσκοπος
Ευγένιος. Κυπαρισσένιος, εύσωμος επιβλητικός,
μου ‘δωσε το χέρι του να το φιλήσω. Δεν ξέρω τι
βιδώθηκε στο μυαλό μου κείνη την αστραπιαία
στιγμή και του λεω με ναζιάρικο χαμόγελο.
-Σεβασμιότατε αν μου φιλήσετε το δικό μου, θα
σας φιλήσω το δικό σας!
Ο Ιεράρχης άλλαξε χρώμα και έμεινε με ανοιχτό
το στόμα. Και πριν προλάβει να συνέλθει του λέω
αστειευόμενη:
-Καλέ, πως βγήκατε εσείς λαμπάδα και εγώ κερί?
Ούτε στην μέση δεν σας φτάνω!
Κράτησε το στομάχι του από τα τρανταχτά γέλια
και έτσι έσπασε ο πάγος μεταξύ μας. Μιλούσαμε
πια σαν παλιοί καλοί φίλοι. Μου πρόσφερε ένα
δίσκο από Λαμπριάτικα κουλουράκια , κόκκινα
αυγά και τσουρέκι. Μου μίλησε με ενθουσιασμό
για ώρα πολύ για την σχολή εικονογραφίας.
Με ρώτησε πως μου φάνηκε το Ηράκλειο.
Τότε ταράχτηκα. Βούτηξα την ευκαιρία από τα
continues >>>>
μαλλιά.
-Τα Χανιά είναι πιο όμορφα, γραφικά, η
γενέτειρα του Βενιζέλου! Το μόνο που έχει
να καυχιέται το Ηράκλειο είναι ο τάφος του
Καζαντζάκη!
Γέλασαν τα μουστάκια του Αρχιεπισκόπου.
Τέντωσε με περηφάνια τις θεόρατες πλάτες του
και κορδώθηκε σαν παγώνι.
-Εγώ τον αγαπούσα πολύ τον Καζαντζάκη, μου
εξομολογείται χωρίς δισταγμό. Τον θαύμαζα στα
κρυφά. Ξέρετε, η εκκλησία είναι στενοκέφαλη.
Δεν μπορούσα να εκφράσω τα πραγματικά
μου αισθήματα.. Θα με πετούσαν έξω. Έχω
διαβάσει όλα του τα βιβλία του. Τι πένα είναι
αυτή κοπελιά μου; Πιάνει πουλιά στον αέρα! Ο
Καζαντζάκης κατά μένα είναι ο πρωτοψάλτης
της παγκόσμιας λογοτεχνίας. Η εκκλησία τον
παρεξήγησε. Ο Καζαντζάκης ήταν φιλόσοφος
και αλληγορικός συγγραφέας.
-Μα η εκκλησία τον αφόρισε!
-Δεν είναι αλήθεια. Ο Καζαντζάκης ποτέ δεν
αφορίστηκε , αγαπητή μου. Η Ιερά Συνοδός τον
καταράστηκε και τον αφόρισε και ζήτησε από
τον Πατριάρχη Αθηναγόρα να επικυρώσει την
αφόριση του. Ο Πατριάρχης πέταξε την αίτηση
σ’ ένα συρτάρι και ακόμα εκεί είναι. Ποτέ δεν
την υπέγραψε. Όχι μόνο αυτό, αλλά τα βιβλία
του Καζαντζάκη στολίζουν και τώρα ακόμα την
βιβλιοθήκη του Πατριαρχείου!
Είχα μείνει άφωνη, λύγισαν τα γόνατα μου.
Έκαμα κόμπο την καρδιά μου και σώπασα.
-Εγώ , δεσποινίς Κατσουλάκη πήγα και στην
κηδεία του! Παρ’ όλες τις απειλές, διαταγές,
εκκλήσεις και κατάρες που πήρα γραπτώς και
προφορικώς -μπροστά μου και πίσω από την
πλάτη μου- έδωσα άδεια να μπει η σωρός του
στον Άγιο Μηνά και έκανα μάλιστα και την
νεκρική δέηση!
-Δεν φοβηθήκατε?
-Ήταν δύσκολη η θέση μου. Είχα μεγάλη πίεση
και από την Ιεραρχία και από τις τοπικές αρχές.
Αν δεν άφηνα την σωρό του Καζαντζάκη στον
Άγιο Μηνά, θα γινόταν η επανάσταση του
1821 και θα αιματοκυλιόμαστε εδώ κάτω!
Οι Κρητικοί το ‘χαν πάρει πολύ πατριωτικά
το θέμα. Ήταν ανήμερα θηρία! Στην κηδεία
κόντεψε να γίνει μεγάλο μακελειό. Κάμποσοι
κληρικοί χωρίς ράσα ακολούθησαν την νεκρική
πομπή βρίζοντας τον νεκρό, αρπάχτηκαν στα
χέρια με ντόπιους Κρητικούς. Δύσκολες ώρες
και για μένα ένα ανώτατο κληρικό!
-Εσείς τον θάψατε?
-Όχι, αλίμονο μου! Θα με αφόριζε η Ιερά
Σύνοδος! Είχαμε διαταγή να μην γίνει η ταφή
του από κανένα Ορθόδοξο παπά. Εγώ δεν
ήμουνα κοντά στην σωρό του Καζαντζάκη.
-Οι εφημερίδες έγραψαν ότι θάφτηκε από
ιερέα ο Καζαντζάκης.
- Ο κόσμος είχε άγνοια. Όταν έφτασε η
σωρός του στο Μαρτινέγκο, κάποιος έβγαλε
επικήδειο λόγο. ( Σημείωση: Τον επικήδειο
εκφώνησε ο Μενέλαος Παρλαμάς) Μα
κανείς κληρικός δεν ήταν γύρω για να θάψει
τον νεκρό. Σκεφτείτε τώρα μπροστά στα
μάτια όλου του κόσμου και τις φωτογραφικές
μηχανές του διεθνούς τύπου! Πουθενά
παπάς. Οι Βρακοφόροι Κρητικοί άρχισαν να
φουρτουνιάζουν, έμαθα από άλλους παρόντες,
άναψαν τα αίματα και ήθελαν να βουτήξουν
το φέρετρο και να το θάψουν με τα ίδια τους
τα χέρια. Κείνη την τραγική στιγμή ως εκ
θαύματος παρουσιάστηκε ένα νέος παπάς με
ράσα και με θυμιατό! Ούτε ήξερα ποιος ήταν
και πως βρέθηκε εκεί, από πού ξεφύτρωσε!
Κανείς δεν ήξερε!
-Τώρα ξέρετε ποιός ήταν?
-Αρκετά, είπαμε κοπελιά. Ας αφήσουμε
αυτήν τη συζήτηση για τον Καζαντζάκη και
δώσε μου το τηλέφωνο σου στο ξενοδοχείου
που μένεις να σε καλέσω για τραπέζι μια από
αυτές τις μέρες. Και στείλε μου το περιοδικό
όταν θα γράψεις το άρθρο για την σχολή
εικονογραφίας.
Τον φίλησα στο μάγουλο και πήδηξα τα
σκαλιά σαν αγριοκάτσικο.
Ο παπάς που έθαψε τον Καζαντζάκη και η
ιστορία του
Το άλλο πρωί πριν ακόμα ανοίξει το μουσείο
είχα κουκουβίσει στα σκαλοπάτια. Ο Ανδρέας
Καλοκαιρινός μόλις με είδε έλαμψε το
πρόσωπο του.
- Συγχαρητήρια, τα κατάφερες!
-Ναι!
-Σου είπε ο Αρχιεπίσκοπος ότι δεν αφορίστηκε
ο Καζαντζάκης?
-Ναι! Απίστευτο!
-Για τον παπά που τον έθαψε?
-Ναι, αλλά δεν μου είπε ποιός ήταν.
-Θα σου το πω εγώ!
Ποτέ μου δεν ένιωσα τέτοια θεϊκή
ευγνωμοσύνη για τον χωματένιο άνθρωπο.
Ξεκόρμισα από τον τοίχο και άρχισα να κλαίω.
Μου έδωσε το όνομα, την διεύθυνση και τον
τόπο που έμενε ο άγνωστος παπάς που είχε το
Διγενικό θάρρος και το αντρίκειο φιλότιμο να
λιποταχτήσει από τις μίζερες μικρότητες και
τις ξεδιάντροπες καταπιέσεις της εκκλησίας
και σαν παπάς με συνείδηση να κάνει την
κηδεία του μεγάλου καλλιτέχνη.
-Να μου υποσχεθείς ότι ποτέ δεν θα αναφέρεις
το όνομα του καλού τούτου ανθρώπου.
Υπόσχεσαι?
-Υπόσχομαι!
Σαν χτύπησα δειλά την πόρτα του σπιτιού
του καλοσυνάτου ήρωα παπά, νόμιζα ότι
θα σταματούσε η αναπνοή μου. Μου άνοιξε
την πόρτα με ένα ήρεμο, απλοϊκό χαμόγελο
γιομάτο αγάπη.
-Καλώς ήλθατε στο φτωχικό μου. Σε τι μπορώ
να σας φανώ χρήσιμος?
Του ‘πα την αλήθεια. Δεν έδειξε φόβο ή
έκπληξη. Απλά και σεμνά μου ζήτησε να μην
αναφέρω τ’ όνομα του στην έρευνα για τον
Καζαντζάκη, μόνο την ιστορία..
-Ποτέ, σας το ορκίζομαι!
-Τον Νοέμβριο του 1957 ήμουνα στρατιώτης
και παπάς και υπηρετούσα την θητεία μου
στο Ηράκλειο. Μια μέρα πριν την κηδεία
του Καζαντζάκη, ο διοικητής κάλεσε όλους
τους στρατιωτικούς και έδωσε διαταγή να
μην βγει κανείς έξω από το στρατόπεδο
στις 5 Νοέμβριου. Οι αρχές και ο στρατός
φοβόνταν μεγάλες φασαρίες, γιατί είχε
έρθει εκκλησιαστική διαταγή να μην ταφεί ο
Καζαντζάκης. Όταν θα το ‘παιρναν χαμπάρι οι
Κρητικοί θα έκαναν μεγάλες φασαρίες. Εγώ
σαν παπάς ένιωσα πολύ άσχημα. Η συνείδηση
μου με πείραζε πολύ. Ήμουν παπάς. Δεν
άντεχα να πάρω στον λαιμό μου τέτοιο άδικο.
Δεν μπορούσα να αρνηθώ τα ιερά μυστήρια
σ’ ένα βαφτισμένο Χριστιανό που δεν έκανε
ποτέ κάτι ανήθικο η εγκληματικό. Όσο
continues >>>>
αφορά τα βιβλία του δεν είμαι εγώ άξιος να τον
κρίνω.
-Πως τα καταφέρετε?
-Το ‘σκασα κρυφά από τον στρατό την μέρα
της κηδείας. Πήρα αθόρυβα τα ράσα μου και
έτρεξα στον Μαρτινέγκο και τον έθαψα.
-Ο κόσμος που περίμενε στον Μαρτινέγκο
ήξερε τι έγινε?
-Όχι . Όλοι νόμισαν ότι με έστειλε η εκκλησία
να τον κηδέψω. Είχαν δει και τον Μητροπολίτη
Ευγένιο στον Άγιο Μηνά. Δεν ήξερε κανείς τι
γινόταν στα παρασκήνια!
-Τιμωρηθήκατε?
-Ναι. Πέρασα από στρατιωτικό δικαστήριο και
μπήκα φυλακή για έξη μήνες!
Κοίταξα κατάματα τον ανώτατο τούτο άνθρωπο,
με απέραντη ευλάβεια. Του ‘πιασα τα χέρια
με τρυφεράδα και τα φίλησα με όλη μου την
ειλικρίνεια. Ήταν η πρώτη και η τελευταία
φορά που φίλησα τα χέρια ενός κληρικού!
Σαν γύρισα στην Αθήνα , ο αρχισυντάκτης
του περιοδικού ΤΑΞΙΔΙ με απέλυσε και με
το δίκιο του. Σαν είχα την έρευνα έτοιμη την
έδωσα σε ένα φίλο Κρητικό, δημοσιογράφο
που δούλευε για το περιοδικό ΕΠΙΚΑΙΡΑ, και
ήταν ανταποκριτής μιας Ελληνοαμερικανικής
εφημερίδας. Μετά από καμποσες μέρες
ανείπωτης αγωνίας συναντηθήκαμε στο
πλατεία Συντάγματος για καφέ. Φαινόταν
σκοτεινιασμένος.
-Τι έγινε με την έρευνα του Καζαντζάκη? Τι
είπαν οι εφημερίδες, τα ΕΠΙΚΑΙΡΑ?
-Ότι θα πας πέντε χρόνια φυλακή αν
προσπαθήσεις να την δημοσιεύσεις, μου
απάντησε ωμά, σχεδόν με θυμό. «Ξέχαστο
Ελένη. Αυτήν την έρευνα σου συνιστώ σαν
φίλος να την κάψεις. Ποτέ δεν θα δημοσιευθεί
στην Ελλάδα. Τόσο αγαθή είσαι? Ξύπνα!
-Μα είναι αλήθεια!
-Για αυτό ακριβώς δεν θα δημοσιευθεί ποτέ,
γιατί είναι αλήθεια!
Κραυγές οργής και φρίκης υψώθηκαν μέσα
μου. Αισθάνθηκα σαν κάποιος να ξερίζωσε την
καρδιά μου και να την πέταξε σ’ ένα αγκαθωτό
γκρεμό, χωρίς έλεος. Μα δεν το ‘βαλα κάτω.
Μετέφρασα το κείμενο στα Αγγλικά και το
‘στειλα στο Αμερικανικό περιοδικό NEWSWEEK. Το περιοδικό δέχτηκε το κείμενο για
τον Καζαντζάκη σαν πληροφοριακή πηγή και
φυλάχτηκε στην βιβλιοθήκη του. Αργότερα
έστειλα την έρευνα στη Ελένη Καζαντζάκη.
Η χήρα του Καζαντζάκη την δέχτηκε όπως
ένας σταυρωμένος περίμενε με λαχτάρα την
ανάσταση του. Τότε και μόνο ένιωσα ότι είχα
κάνη το χρέος μου!
Το 2003 το σαρκοβόρο σαράκι της δικαίωσης
άρχισε πάλι να τρώει τα σωθικά μου και
αποφάσισα να ξαναγράψω στα Ελληνικά την
έρευνα για τον Καζαντζάκη. Ο Αρχιεπίσκοπος
Ευγένιος Ψαλιδάκης είχε πεθάνει το 1978.
Ο Ανδρέας Καλοκαιρινός το 1992. Έστειλα
-χωρίς να ελπίζω- φαξ στον Μητροπολίτη
Μελέτιο, αρχιγραμματέα της Ιεράς Συνόδου
του
Οικουμενικού
Πατριαρχείου
της
Κωνσταντινούπολης και ζήτησα επίσημη
επιβεβαίωση σχετικά με τον αφορισμό του
Καζαντζάκη.
Μα η μοίρα και το ριζικό είναι αναπάντεχο
και γνέθει τις δικές του σαϊτιές. Πριν από
κάμποσες εβδομάδες, καθώς ψαχούλευα ένα
αραχνιασμένο κουτί γιομάτο ποιήματα—σπίθες
της νιότης, βρήκα στα Ελληνικά την έρευνα
του Καζαντζάκη! Τα χέρια μου έτρεμαν σαν
επιληπτικά. Τα μάτια μου θόλωσαν. Ήταν το
πνεύμα του μεγάλου συγγραφέα που ζητούσε
δικαίωση ? Δεν ξέρω. Οι κιτρινισμένες σελίδες
είχαν φαγωθεί και δύσκολα διαβάζονταν.
Κάθισα και το ξανάγραψα. Ήταν μια εσωτερική
ανάγκη και ένα ιερό χρέος για να τιμήσω τον
πνευματικό άνθρωπο που δεν υποτάσσεται
σε καλόβουλες αυλές και δεν αναπαύεται σε
καρποφόρα , εφήμερα λιβάδια, παρά φορτώνει
το δισάκι της ευθύνης στον ώμο και παίρνει
το κακοτράχαλο μονοπάτι για να βρει την
αγκαθωτή αλήθεια.
Με αγάπη,
Ελένη Κατσουλακη
Σημείωση: Στις 29 Ιουνίου του 2003 έλαβα ένα
συστημένο επίσημο γράμμα από την Ιερά Σύνοδο
του Πατριαρχείου της Κωνσταντινούπολης που
επιβεβαιώνει μετά από 50 χρόνια άναντρης σιωπής, ότι δεν υπάρχει αφορισμός του Καζαντζάκη στα
αρχεία τους.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Η ιστορία έχει ένα δικό της τρόπο να προβαίνει σε “διορθώσεις”.
Mao thirty years after
by Thanos Kalamidas
2006-09-14
the daily e-magazine
The year 2006, among
others
internationally,
has become important
for China. It marks thirty
years since the death of
Mao Zedong, thirty years
without the man that connected his life with the future of this great
Asian nation. He was the man who made
the Cultural Revolution and gave a new
meaning altogether to the word ‘cultural’.
I’m not sure what the Chinese people are thinking, but the Chinese states, unsure whether
extended celebrations and memorials would
offend, have kept the event quiet. No memorials in Peking, no endless hours of documentaries on Chinese television. The only memorial
in his honor was online in the jungle of the
internet, the resurgence of a museum in his
birth town and the mention of the two above
in a small paragraph in the inner pages of the
newspaper ‘Republic’s Daily’.
From the early years in 1959 till the years of
the Cultural Revolution in 1969, over thirty
million people died in the name of Mao’s communism. Could a memorial to Mao occur by
ignoring the memory of all these people and
how a state that balances between a twisted
capitalism and controlled communism would
be able to react to that? One memory China
definitely doesn’t need again is the memory
of the Tiananmen Square and any memorial
would lead there.
With a population of nearly 1.4 billion people,
there are the ones who remember the good old
days, feeling the disappointment of the new
situation and missing the old leader. However,
in the case of China, these people are not in
the hundreds, like Russia or other former communists states, they are in the millions. This
has probably made the state pray for this year
to go fast and people to focus on the coming
Olympic Games. The main power of Mao’s
reminder is coming from the agricultural ruling areas where he pumped his power all his
years.
Yet, how can you make a memorial to Mao
in a country where Wal-Mart supermarkets are
everywhere, including an office for the Communist Party of China in every single mall they
have built. Chinese President Hu Jintao seems
happy with the whole situation believing that
the presence of the office in every capitalist
mall assures the continuation of the state’s
power despite international financial pressure
and globalization.
Thirty years after the death of Mao Zedong the
only ones who really remember what he really
did are the online encyclopedias. In another
thirty years he’ll probably be remembered as
that funny guy in the weird shirt stood next to
President Nixon in a photograph. Nixon will
be remembered definitely, he’s the one who
taught everybody that there are no honest politicians and that’s how history will remember
him. Mao, on the other hand, the jokes about
his super active sexual life will survive and
nothing more. Today’s Chinese state works
hard on that anyway.
A paedophile party?
by Asa Butcher
2006-09-15
the daily e-magazine
The idea of a political
party advocating underage sex, gambling, drugs,
public nudity, the elimination of marriage and legalizing the private use of
child pornography should
be the product of a twisted comedy sketch
show, but it has become a ghastly reality in
Holland. On May 31st, 2006, the Partij voor
Naastenliefde, Vrijheid & Diversiteit was
officially granted permission to participate
in Dutch elections and the outrage across
Europe has been justifiably furious.
As a father, no, as a human being, the idea of
an official group proposing the legalisation of
child pornography is odious, abhorrent and
loathsome. The implausible statement made
by the judges following the ruling read, “The
freedom of expression, the freedom of assembly and the freedom of association ... should
be seen as the foundations of the democratic
rule of law and the PNVD is also entitled to
these freedoms.”
FEΛR
Bullshit! What else can you say to that? Are
we now going to compare cartoons of Mohammed to a political party supporting sex
with 12-year-olds? The PNVD advocate kids
to have the vote, have intercourse, gamble,
choose their place of residence and use soft
drugs from twelve-years-old; naturally, they
say that hard drugs would be legal at 16. This
must be the product of a disturbed hidden camera show in an attempt to fool a mass audience,
but this is the repulsive abuse of democracy.
The PNVD are no fools having brainstormed
and included some additional policies that will
prove they are not beasts and will even appeal
to their future demographic. A comprehensive
animal rights platform will strike a chord with
every 12-year-old because they all hate to see
bad things happen to puppies and kittens; you
know, they are so young, so helpless and so
innocent that you couldn’t take advantage of
them, but some monsters still do even though
it is illegal.
Naturally, the founders of the party are careful not to support all paedophilia and sexual
relationships, but reason that only “coerced”
or “dangerous” sexual activity should be punished, as if they know what those limits are.
They also call for separate imprisonment facilities for sex offenders, arguing that ‘the
country would otherwise have indirect torture
laws’ and, anyway, you have to start by protecting your own kind…fellow humans that
is.
Every day I am increasingly desensitised to
many aspects of this planet, but the idea that
democracy supports this detestable political
party makes my skin crawl. We can only hope
that there is a European Union law that can
overrule the judges in Holland because the
last thing paedophilia needs is platform from
which to voice its opinions.
Living through
Hezbollah’s bombardment
by Amin George Forji
2006-09-16
the daily e-magazine
Linda Miller, a teacher of
English in the Department
of Foreign Languages at
the University of Haifa,
was living in Northern
Israel when it underwent
bombardments by Hezbollah rockets. She describes the period of
the bombardments as terrible and stressful
for the whole of Israel.
In order to understand what it was like, I interviewed Ms. Miller this month via an exchange
of emails. The interview below is compiled
from her replies of Aug 20 and Aug 21.
Ms. Miller, I understand you are an Israeli,
resident in Haifa. Am I right?
Yes, I am Linda Miller, a resident of Northern Israel. I work in Haifa, at the University of
Haifa, but I live in a small settlement north of
Haifa, near Naharia. My daughter, son-in-law
and their baby live in Haifa.
Your city was most hit by Hezbollah rockets
during the recently ended conflict between the
group and your country. Were you living in the
city at the time of the conflict?
Haifa was not the most hit city -- Naharia and
Kiryat Shmona were bombarded with rockets
much more intensively. But Haifa was hit by
several of the larger rockets, causing deaths
and destruction of homes, public buildings,
etc.
Haifa is known as a city of co-existence and
unfortunately some Arab citizens were also
killed. I spent the war mostly on my settlement, which was also exposed to constant
rocket attacks throughout the war. My teaching work was cancelled so I spent my time at
home or in the shelters, listening fearfully as
the rockets fell around us.
I teach academic reading skills to students
from all sectors of Israeli society -- Jewish
students, Israeli Arabs, Russian immigrants,
Ethiopian immigrants, religious and secular.
Israel is not new to wars. But this was probably the most difficult for her in many decades,
and those living in Haifa can best testify. What
is it like living in a war zone, with dangerous
enemy rockets constantly directed at you?
Did you fear for your life, family and friends,
or you were just confident that your military
would guarantee basic security?
I live in an area in which there are towns and
villages that reflect the demographic makeup of the Israeli population -- Arab villages,
Muslim and Christian, Druze villages, Jewish
neighborhoods and kibbutzim. We all live and
study in peace and cooperation.
It was a terrible, stressful time for us all. Can
you imagine what it is like to know that over
10,000 lethal rockets are trained on you from
a short distance away and that an extremist
group, not under the control of any government, are now firing them at you, with the
continues >>>>
sole aim of killing as many citizens as possible and destroying everything they can?? Of
course we were frightened and feared for our
lives! Do you live in Finland? Imagine Helsinki being under rocket fire from Estonia or
Russia!!
Which in your opinion is right: Israel was exercising a legitimate right of self-defence, or
Hezbollah was exercising a legitimate right of
resistance?
How can you ask such a question? A resistance
movement? Resistance to what? Israel has no
desire or interest in attacking Lebanon! The
idea that Hezbollah are doing all this for the
sake of Lebanon is farcical. The only foreign
power that threatens Lebanese sovereignty is
Syria. Let them resist Syria! Israel’s action
was one of pure self-defence.
Many in Israel and her allies qualify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. But in Lebanon, where it is in fact part of the government,
and across the Arab world, the organization is
widely considered to be a Resistance Movement or Freedom Fighters. Do you find yourself caught in the midst?
No, absolutely not! The Hezbollah is an illegitimate militia. It is a terrorist organization
that has been armed to the teeth and trained
as though it were a proper army, yet without
the political controls of a state army. What are
the Hezbollah fighting FOR?? Nothing. Their
raison d’être is solely to destroy Israel.
After the cease-fire, both Israel and Hezbollah were quick to claim victory, with backing from allied countries. On a personal note,
don’t you believe -- as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nassrallah put it -- that Israel failed to
achieve any single military success, because
they failed to recover the two captured soldiers that in fact sparked the war? Is it not abnormal for the Israeli military, considered to
be one of the most powerful in the world, to
be unable to beat a tiny organization such as
Hezbollah after more than a month of intensive fighting, even after deploying probably
the best she could afford?
The war ended in a state of deadlock. There
was no decisive military victory for either
side. However, Israel has achieved its aim
of pushing Hezbollah back from its northern
border and the deployment of the Lebanese
army and a tougher international force in
southern Lebanon. The even greater achievement is that the problem of Hezbollah and its
backers, Syria and Iran, is now on the world
table. Everyone knows that they must act to
restrain these fanatical countries and their
proxies, otherwise this same terror will be on
their doorsteps next time.
During the conflict, the Israeli army committed a lot of fatal blunders such as massacring
defenceless children and women, indiscriminate bombardment of innocent civilian homes,
property and means of livelihood, etc., thus
creating serious animosity amongst many the
world over who initially subscribed to her
right of self-defence. Will you, as a result, at
this point say that your military, without any
fear of contradiction, acted below expectation
and in fact ultra vires?
What has happened to your journalistic objectivity? The Israeli army was fighting the Hezbollah, but the Hezbollah operate from within
civilian areas, homes and villages. The IDF
warned people to leave their homes, as it is
very important to us not to hurt innocent citizens. The bombing was never indiscriminate,
it was always aimed at Hezbollah targets. It
was the Hezbollah who were firing indiscriminately. All the 4,000 rockets fired at Israel
were indiscriminate, aimed at killing innocent
men, women and children.
Broadly speaking, what do you think should
have been done or is to be done? Do you fear
for a repeat of the scenario in the near future?
I do not think there will be renewed fighting in the near future. But unless the resolutions that brought about the ceasefire are
fulfilled, and Hezbollah is disarmed, then
who knows what can happen in the future.
Final Remarks
This war was not about territory, or about
withdrawal or about a Palestinian state.
This war was about the continued existence of OUR state. Hezbollah and Hamas
openly say that their aim is the destruc-
tion of the State of Israel. Let them know
that this will never happen and we will do
everything we have to make sure it never
happens. My personal wish? To sit down
with a Lebanese family and talk about our
children and our lives, in the same way as
we do with the Israeli Arabs who live in the
village next door to me. None of this fighting has to happen and none of it will ever
bring benefit to anyone.
International Day for the
Preservation of the Ozone Layer
by Asa Butcher
2006-09-17
the daily e-magazine
When I was a kid back in
the ‘80s, we were introduced to the word ‘ozone’.
Initially, we all thought
that it was a cool name
for a new kid’s television
show or a brand of mountain bike, but we all soon came to learn,
via greenhouse diagrams, that this invisible barrier in our upper atmosphere keeps
dangerous stuff from the sun out. Scientists
appeared on the news looking serious and
warned us that there was a rather large
hole above Antarctica and it would keep increasing in size unless something was done.
Twenty years later, the same scientists are
now unsure whether the hole is getting larger
or even if it is an issue, but my question is:
Why take the chance? Is reducing exhaust
emissions really a problem for an automotive
industry that managed to put cup holders into
their latest cars? There didn’t seem to be any
problem ensuring that those polluting refrigerators were dumped and replaced with their
Ozone friendly cousins.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced
that the Montreal Protocol on Substances
that Deplete the Ozone Layer is effective and
working. There has been tremendous progress
in global efforts to repair the ozone layer and,
consequently, there are now early signs that
we are on the road to recovery of this precious
life-support system.
According to a series of scientific assessments
made by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), more than 300
scientists from 34 countries have found clear
evidence of a decrease in the abundance of
ozone-depleting substances in the lower atmosphere. In addition, improved chemistryclimate modelling estimates total ozone layer
recovery over Antarctica by about 2065; 15
years later than the previous estimate.
Words, such as these, inspire hope and remind
us that we do have a precious life-support system. There are times that we may think that we
have passed the point of no return and that the
horsehair supporting the Sword of Damocles
is finally going to snap, yet miraculously it remains in place for another day, another month,
another decade. Don’t abandon all hope and
begin looking at real estate on the moon because we might just save the planet after all.
Nobody said it would be quick, nobody said
it would be easy, but nobody said you would
have to do it alone either. This is the greatest team challenge the world will ever face
and the responsibility does not only sit on the
shoulders of global governments. Each of us
can do our part, no matter how small, since
we contribute to the pollution every day of our
lives. Imagine in 2065 being able to bore your
grandkids with the story of how you helped
save the planet.
The theme of this year’s observance, “Protect the Ozone Layer: Save Life on Earth”,
invites the international community to build
on its achievements to date by accelerating
the phase-out of ozone depleting substances.
“I appeal to Governments, in partnership with
industry, non-governmental organizations and
citizens all over the world, to celebrate this
year’s International Day for the Preservation
of the Ozone Layer by promoting activities
that will continue to sustain public and political awareness until the task is fully accomplished,” concludes Kofi Annan.
Mrs. Oriana Fallaci
by Thanos Kalamidas
2006-09-21
the daily e-magazine
For days I have been
thinking of an editorial,
but having things constantly in movement and
adding new things to the
Ovi magazine all the time
I’ve kept leaving it for later. However, that was till I read some sad
news and thought I should write something
brief about it.
Since the sudden news has come from Italy
and concerns a person that has been a controversial in this line of work, I decided that the
best way to express my sadness would be an
editorial.
Mrs. Oriana Fallaci, one of the most controversial characters in international journalism
and successful authors, died on September
15th aged 77. She died in her birth town of
Florence after 15 years fighting cancer.
Oriana Fallaci will be well-remembered from
her reports in Vietnam and to the Greeks for
her love of their country; she worked against
the dictators during the dictatorship and had a
personal relationship with the late Panagoulis,
a Greek legend and hero.
For me, Oriana Fallaci will always be remembered for two things, her interview with Henry Kissinger when, even to his surprise, she
made him admit that the Vietnam War was a
huge mistake, which coming from the mouth
of the former Secretary of State was a huge
deal, and her book Letter to an Unborn Child,
in which a mother talks to her unborn child
going through her choices and her life. If you
haven’t read this book, please do, it is a fantastic confession!
Oriana Fallaci achieved exactly what we want
with the Ovi magazine, she had opinions and
she caused controversy, in the sense that controversy opens dialogue. Even her last controversy made people think. She emphasized that
there is a problem with the people who represent Islam nowadays, she emphasized that not
liking American policy is one thing, but accepting, in the name of this anti-Americanism,
the acts of terrorism with the death of thousands of innocent is another thing; the guilty
should be stopped and punished.
Oriana Fallaci, just like she accused Henri
Kissinger, accused the religious leaders just
as responsible for the terrorism with their fanatism and burning speeches as the terrorists.
The woman didn’t only make journalism her
career, but honored journalism in every sense.
Arrivederci Oriana, mille graci
Thanos Kalamidas
Pope quoting history
by Thanos Kalamidas
2006-09-22
the daily e-magazine
Let me see, I read the
newspapers every day, I
listen to the radio news
and I watch the news on
television. Most of the
time somebody for Iran
or Iraq declares war on
Christianity and promises he will see my
head cut. I see young kids in the name of
Qur’an holding automatic guns and shooting in the air promising death to infidels,
while their black-dressed holy mentors
bless them from the back.
I see raving preachers preaching the destruction of the west and the establishment of Islam, while every time I have to fly I make
nervous jokes about the Twin Towers and nobody has the courage, first of all, to apologize
to me and, secondly, to tell all these people to
just shut up!
And then Byzantine Emperor Paleologos said
and the very same preachers demand an apology? Hold on to your camels!!! What’s going
on here?
The 14th century signalised the end of the
Byzantine Empire and the beginning of the
Ottoman Empire. Manual II Paleologos of
Byzantine was the grandfather of Theodoros
Paleologos, the last emperor of the Byzantine
Empire, before the fall of Constantinople, the
centre of the Roman and the Christian world.
During this time Islam was not just the enemy,
it slaughtered the empire that had a face and
arms. Manual II was an emperor that could
see all that and he said it loud, he said Muhammad had brought to the world only one
thing: evil! That was exactly what he saw in
the 14th century and in a capital under siege.
Pope Benedict just quoted that in a long
speech he made at a German university.
Straightaway, Pakistani religious leaders demanded an apology. Just two questions: how
many Christian churches are there in Pakistan
and is a Christian Pakistani free to practise his
religion? Please don’t bother answering!!!
Then Turkey’s religious leaders followed.
Ironically, it was at exactly the same minute
that the US Secretary of State reported that
Turkey has serious issues with religious freedom, especially against the Greek Orthodox
Christians and the Ecumenical Patriarch. The
Turks even went so far to say that the Pope
used ‘hostile’ words. The threats a few months
ago against the Patriarch in Constantinople to
take his head I suppose was the Turkish way
to show friendliness!
In Kashmir the state went so far to seize all the
newspapers that reported the Pope’s speech
with the excuse that they wanted to prevent
any tension. Let me see that, the poor people
of Kashmir that have only one thing on their
mind, how to survive, wake up and after reading what the Pope quoted on the other side of
the world they decide to burn some embassies just like they did a few months before
with the Mohammed cartoons.
I’m sure the Turkish, the Pakistani, the Malaysian, the Iranian and the Kashmir newspapers
‘forgot’ to mention that this was an hour’s
speech and that it was a quote by somebody
else that the Pope used. I’m sure they had gigantic headlines with what some mullah said
and conveniently forgot to say what the Pope
had said.
The first reaction always comes from fanatics,
but this is where another question comes, if
continues >>>>
that is coming from a few fanatics, why don’t
the rest stop them and show them what they
should have read and calm the people? Or do
these fanatics have so much power in today’s
Islam that the other voices disappear? And if
that is true, then we have a problem and better
realize soon that we are trying to make sense
and talk with people who don’t listen anyway.
They are only listening to their own voice and
their hate!
Coming now to the Turks, their democratic
faith and their ambition to become members
of a free and democratic EU will really be
put to the test when Pope Benedict XVI visits
them in a few months.
Pieces of eight!
by Asa Butcher
2006-09-27
the daily e-magazine
September 19th is International Talk Like A Pirate
Day and, in honour of the
aforementioned day, here
is a past Ovi review of the
epitomy of pirate novels:
“Fifteen men on the dead man’s chest-- Yo-hoho, and a bottle of rum! Drink and the devil
had done for the rest-- Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle
of rum!”
Wooden legs, eye patches, hidden treasure,
rum, parrots, pieces of eight and the Jolly
Roger have become woven into the fabric of
piracy folklore and all because of one man’s
fictional adventure written over 120 years ago.
Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island is
still the blueprint for pirate stories to this day
and the foundation upon which films like Pirates of the Caribbean are made.
My literary journey is attempting to encompass the books that have shaped and influenced
our culture. Works that are quoted, parodied,
satirised, copied and remade so many times
that we forget that we have never sampled the
original material. I noticed Treasure Island sitting upon a shelf in my local library, the cover
was simply blue with a seagull logo, the pages
had faded to a shade of brown and yet an impulse urged me to borrow it.
A declaration that the book was electric and
exciting matters little to a classic such as this.
It has proved its status over twelve decades
and isn’t relying upon me for further validation, but I believe my task now is to encourage you to read it. Upon the completion of
the book, I was angry with myself for having
taken so long to finally read it and experience
the thrill of Stevenson’s penmanship.
Treasure Island contains beautifully descriptive passages that put you in the place of its
narrator and hero Jim Hawkins. Its action
scenes have your eyes darting over the words
in a frantic attempt to learn the outcome, the
names, the faces and personalities draw you
into the story, the island’s atmosphere is sensational, and the great Long John Silver is such a
strong character you feel he could be alive.
The story has considerable violence, graphic
battles and plenty of death, yet it is described
as children’s literature. I could not see much
that would give a eleven-year-old-plus any
nightmares, although I guess it would depend
upon the strength of their imagination. My
own imagination took me into the story so
deeply that it was suddenly 2am and my wife
was asking if I was coming to bed…just fifty
pages left, darling!
Every page was a joy to read, especially seeing
all the classic and clichéd pirate terminology
being used for the very first time, “Shiver me
timbers, me hearties. Walk the plank, X marks
the spot and the Black Spot!” Treasure Island
is a real gem and pi-rate it ten out of ten.
Toxic waist
by Jan Sand
2006-09-21
the daily e-magazine
Modern life has presented
many threats to humanity.
When added to the standard ammunition humanity has to shoot itself in
the foot, our progression
in technical capability
represents an accumulation of direness that
must inspire further genius at an accelerating rate in order to avoid total obliteration,
not only of the human species, but an awful
lot of our companion species as well.
Hollywood has dreamed up all sorts of monsters ranging from a ravenous viscid blob
through all sorts of conglomerations of claws,
tentacles and teeth to spooky spiritual ectoplasm with homicidal psychokinetic talents.
But, somehow, it has missed the latest menaces to civilization, namely, the ubiquitous
French fried potato and the hamburger.
This insidious pair has spread throughout the
civilized world, insinuated into almost every
culture in the manner of the invasive memes
of Richard Dawkins, reproducing at a furious
pace through the instruments of the huge fast
food corporations that pervert local agriculture and animal husbandry into globe spanning uniformity. These evil transformations
bring to mind the famous Invasion of the Body
Snatchers that steals the souls of innocents and
replaces them with voracious vegetables.
Civilization has, of course, created many artificial demons that conquer and destroy by
seduction, such as a coterie of habit forming
drugs that normal physiology does not need
ranging from marijuana and tobacco through
to the more powerful stimulants and depressants like heroin and amphetamines. These
drugs have all the reproductive intellect of any
living creature and subjugate production, marketing and consumer to their will to conquer in
the same manner as a malignant organism.
However, the French fry and the hamburger
present such an innocent and friendly face to
the populace that it is difficult to categorize
them as invading aliens. The basic evil, as has
been noted for centuries, is an indiscriminate
affection for money without noting its deleterious side effects on the community in general. It, too, has all the nasty effects of a plague
more fundamental than any of its auxiliary
evocations. The abstract flow of obligation
is so fundamental to the dynamics of current
society that the exorcism of this fiend is totally impractical, although its possibility as an
exercise of imagination might prove a fruitful
amusement.
The current fatal love affair with fast foods
presents a few pressing problems. Recent experiments with animals, such as worms, rats
and others, indicate a uniform reaction to minimum nourishment can result in considerable
life extension of up to 50%. By discouraging
close attention to calorie intake, appetizing fat
rich foods not only diminish maximum life
span but also encourage diseases of physiology, such as cholesterol accumulation and heart
disease and diabetes.
Although criticism of calorie intake supervision and regulation blames each individual as
responsible for rational eating, the financial
toll on health systems is huge and the misery
of the afflicted individuals is an unnecessary
drain on human well being. There is an old
saying that inside every fat individual is a thin
one screaming to get out. Modern life indicates
that every individual has fat one scheming to
get in and it is an assassin.
the daily e-magazine
A game for the world’s peace
by Thanos Kalamidas
2006-09-23
In the Bad Boys’ radio
show we have a routine
that includes international celebrations or events
and while reading from
the script I stopped at one
date: Thursday 21st September, International Peace Day. I stopped.
I literally stopped live on the air and I was
trying to understand what I had just read.
start reconstruction soon, another attempt to
assassinate Somalia’s prime minister failed,
Uganda’s rebels hit again, Tamil Tigers strike
a convoy, check!
When you make a pause so long on the radio
everybody can understand that something has
happened, my brain had paused the same time
and, like a film on fast-forward, all I could see
were scenes I had watched on the televised
news just one hour before the radio show
started. I realized what was going on and, after
a few seconds, I started introducing the next
song in the cue just to give sometime to myself to take a deep breath.
This is where the check mate is coming even
faster with only one word: unemployment!
Three days later I’m still thinking of it, ironically, exactly the same day the World Chess
Championships begin. A classic was a game
that simulates battle the very same day the
world celebrates peace. So how is our 21st
September going to start?
Good morning ladies and gentlemen, the news
in brief: Fourteen dead in Iraq from a bomb
explosion. Whites play, pawn E2 to E4. Blacks
answer straight away, knight to F6, Alekhine’s
provocative move! The Taleban provocatively
striked small villages in west Afghanistan near
the borders with Pakistan, help from Pakistani
militias suspected.
White pawn to E5. More dead reported in
Darfur, the civil war continues with hundreds
of victims, especially kids. Lebanon hopes to
Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and, by the
way, today is International Peace Day, check
mate! No good news, nothing good and we
can leave the international news hoping that
we will find some peace in the national news.
Everyday, every hour, a new conflict starts
somewhere in the world and all of them started in the name of peace; that’s why we probably need a special day to remind us what real
peace is about. If you are expecting all the
conflicts to stop on that day, in the name of
peace, you obviously live on a different planet
because, here on earth, I’m sure something
new will start in a minute. Oddly the only ones
who will be peaceful are the chess players attending the World Chess Championships.
the daily e-magazine
Skydive for cancer
by Tony Butcher
2006-09-23
Standing at the edge of an
aeroplane’s door, looking
down 10,000ft (3048m) at
terra firma whipping past
is probably a good time
to start reflecting on life.
Fortunately, I will have a
parachute attached to my back and I am
comforted by the secondary chute as well,
plus an experienced professional guiding
my path through the skies.
I am planning to make my charity Skydive on
the October 7th, 2006, for the benefit of CancerBackup who are Europe’s leading cancer
information charity, with over 4,500 pages
of up-to-date cancer information, practical
advice and support for cancer patients, their
families and carers.
My wife to be, Sukina, was diagnosed with
Primary Bone Cancer in spring 2002 and, in
that time, she has, like many other sufferers,
completely altered her approach to life. Six
months into chemotherapy treatment a wonderful surgeon at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, Middlesex, removed her right knee joint, from mid thigh
down to mid shin, and replaced it with a titanium alloy joint. He is Mr T. Briggs and he is
responsible for the love of my life still having
two legs and not the planned amputation at the
beginning of the cancer treatment.
After the operation, she had to learn to walk
again and, with the same determination that
Asa and Thanos will most certainly see in
their young children, Sukina eventually managed to hang up the crutches and continue
with the next six months of her chemotherapy
treatment. Four years on and Sukina is cancer
free, however, it is not a disease that allows
itself to be forgotten.
Only days after my Charity Skydive she will
be going back to Stanmore and Mr. Briggs to
have another operation to coat her kneecap in
plastic to prevent spur growths, which are seriously affecting her walking and causing severe pain. We are not sure whether she will
again have to learn to walk again from scratch,
but it is a possible scenario.
We are getting married next year and I cannot
wait to see her walk down the aisle knowing
how much she has gone through to be there.
Sukina is in no way alone with her heroic efforts to beat cancer. Sadly, nearly everybody I
know has had a family member or close friend
diagnosed with cancer, but what upsets me
even more is that many are not alive today.
Therefore, I am trying to return some of the
help and support we received during Sukina’s
treatment by raising money for a charity that
helps fight the disease and help those whose
lives have been affected.
Any support, help, donations or sponsorship
you would be willing to give would go a long
way to helping others in the future. On Ovi
Magazine, a site which gives its opinions on
so many of the world’s problems and conflicts,
offers you a chance to make a difference for
good.
Please either click on the advert on the righthand side of the Ovi pages or go to www.JustGiving/SupportTony and help as much as you
can. Any words of support that you wish to
add will help me know that I am not jumping
out of the plane on my own. Thank you for
your time.
the daily e-magazine
The Tinker Bell effect
by Jan Sand
2006-09-24
The dreams of centuries
ranging from the old tale
of Daedalus and Icarus
through the efforts of DaVinci, Cayley, Stringfellow, Lilienthal and finally, the Wright Brothers
is routinely realized today as thousands of
huge gleaming metal monsters, weighing
tons, float into the sky as effortlessly (but
with a bit more noise) as soap bubbles.
My own personal bewitchment with the possibility of taking to the air was initiated when
my mother took me to a presentation of Peter
Pan at the age of two before my critical faculties could have made all those cables obvious. I never noticed them and surely didn’t
want to. Subsequently adults would occasionally lift me and assure me, to my delight, that
I would soon be light enough to be wafted
away by the slightest breeze.
The impetus of that imprinting was sufficient
to get me into the Army Air Force (where
I never was accorded a trip into the atmosphere) and I finally managed to satisfy that
imperative urge with a private flying license
after my discharge. At end I found the attainment disappointing.
The flying club at White Plains, New York,
had a second-hand Piper Cub J3, a plane
with a wood frame and canvas cover, seats in
tandem with a four cylinder engine, three of
which worked most of the time. Archie Smith
was the instructor. He had taught black students at Tuskegee and I and another guy were
the only whites in the black club, but race
more or less went unacknowledged.
Archie had instructed US Army pilots and his
methods were loud and abrasive when I did
anything wrong. This kept me at a low simmer
until I had to solo when, alone in the plane, I
clearly heard Archie screaming at me when
I started to make a wrong move. I have been
deeply grateful to his methods ever since.
What disappointed me was the limitations of
the aircraft. Yes, I could do a gentle chandelle,
a stall, eights on pylons, a tailspin with two
permitted turns, lazy eights, side slips to landings but barrel rolls and loops were strictly
forbidden.
They probably would have torn the wings off
the fragile plane. So most ventures were slow
cross country flights, frequently at speeds
where the mild head winds permitted the highway traffic below to speed past me. Pretty dull
stuff while the seagulls and sparrows around
me flew wild acrobatics like fighter pilots. I
could hear Tinker Bell’s mocking laughter all
the time.
I gave up piloting quite a while ago. It cost
me only seven dollars an hour then and was
affordable and I was not in danger of being
forced down by a flight of nervous military
jets.
Nevertheless on my many commercial flights
(where I always try for a window
seat) I still grab a phantom joystick on takeoff
and gauge the critical speed where I feel the
wings grab the air and slowly ease back the
stick for a steep climb, sensitive to the danger
of a stall. Landing a huge commercial jet is
another matter altogether and that I leave to
the pilot and sweat it out with all the other
passengers. On flights with other passengers
from Europe I even join the applause at a safe
arrival. Luckily I have never had to give the
pilot the raspberry.
continues >>>>
A commercial flight is, essentially, not much
different from an overlong bus ride, a sensation cultivated by the airline people to dispel
the unnatural reality of zooming through the
rarified atmosphere at thirty thousand feet
where death sits grinning on the fuselage behind a few millimeters of aluminum waiting
to collect his grisly booty.
I would love to make my transatlantic flight
in a plane constructed of transparent plastic so I would be sitting on air and zooming
through thunderheads while the loony pilot
barrel rolled and tailspinned and looped de
looped to the sound of screaming gagging
passengers.. That surely would squelch
Tinker Bell’s disdain.
the daily e-magazine
City folks
by Jan Sand
2006-09-27
the daily e-magazine
I think it was in one of
Kurt Vonnegut’s pieces
that an alien landed on
Earth and noted that the
dominant life form had
six legs. I doubt it landed
in Finland.
Compared to New York City where I grew up
the arthropod density locally is quite a bit thinner. I have nevertheless, heard that the bulk of
living matter still, after all these many millions
of years, still resides in separate single cells.
We multiple cell colonies pride ourselves in
our accomplishments and, though they are
noteworthy, they may not have provided us
with the endurance and fertility comparable to
our little bacterial brothers.
I grew up in Bay Ridge on Narrows Avenue in
Brooklyn one block from Shore Road which
faces the lower bay. Every time the first Queen
Mary ocean liner came through and blew its
horn we all rushed to the bay to watch it pass
by and I still can see in my mind the time the
Von Hindenburg dirigible flew low over our
house on its way to Lakehurst. It was a fascinating time and place to be. And one of its
most engrossing qualities was the communal
non-human inhabitants.
Some of these guys had six legs, some had a
great many more, and quite a few had four and
two. Dogs there were aplenty. We had one. A
feisty little mongrel named Skippy. And of
course there were handfuls of cats that wandered in and out of our household, all named
Lizzy. From New Jersey the woods produced
brilliant orange newts with golden spots on
their back and an occasional toad. The New
Jersey countryside also produced the occasional blacksnake, rattler, copperhead, garter
snake, and cottonmouth moccasin, none of
which we ventured to take home for amusement.
For a while we had a couple of fantail goldfish
until the bowl broke. A couple of salamanders
inhabited another bowl, but among the most
beloved friends we had was a pair of white
rats named (of course) Mickey and Minnie.
They lived a phenomenal
four years and still remain fond in my memory. The house produced an occasional wild
mouse and once in awhile, a cockroach or two
that spurred a rigorous cleanup.
Some of the wildlife was spectacular. At regular intervals a Cecropia moth with a fifteen
centimeter wingspan appeared on a garden
hedge. More rarely a beautiful Luna moth of
comparable size and pale yellow-green wings
with long tails could be seen at night. There
were the Regal and Viceroy butterflies, black
and yellow Swallowtails and many Fritillerys
and scads of smaller fellows. The little white
cabbage butterfly is common to both New York
and Helsinki, but in Helsinki it seems to be
one of the largest butterflies whereas in New
York it goes almost completely unnoticed. I
miss the flash of fireflies on summer nights,
the summer insect choruses and the beautiful
large dragonflies that were innocent but somehow menacing.
Two insects relatively huge were the related
walking stick and the Praying Mantis. They
could be twenty centimeters long. One Praying Mantis I kept for a while of that size would
turn its triangular head to watch me closely
and out of that experience I ceased regarding
insects as organic wind-up toys and began to
appreciate them as fellow citizens.
continues >>>>
Of larger wild animals there were quite a
few. Seagulls and other large marine birds
hovered over the harbor there as they do in
Helsinki with equal fascinating expertise in
aerobatics. My mother regularly took my
brother and me to Central Park in Manhattan
to feed several varieties of duck and Canada
geese and swans. Once a couple of resting
pelicans hissed a warning and clacked their
beaks as I approached to attempt friendship.
And a plethora of pigeons in their usual rainbow garments. As a kid I often saw horse
drawn wagons in Brooklyn and the cops
even today use a few horses, especially in
the parks.
Recently I have spotted raccoons in Manhattan and a coyote or two has been spotted
in Central Park. There have been stories of
mountain lions and wolves in upstate New
York and New Jersey across the Hudson
River has more bears and deer than it can
handle.
Here in Helsinki quite a few years ago I
have had personal encounters with mooses
although not lately. They seem scarce in this
area lately.
When their mother was killed for trying to
chase people away from her babies I rescued
three gray seagull chicks and kept them
in a large cardboard carton initially, feeding them herring. As they grew up I built a
large wooden enclosure covered with plastic
grating and there they started to learn to fly.
At end I opened the gate and they flew off
to join a flock. I still consider them as my
adopted children and wish them well.
For a couple of years I had a piisami, a
muskrat that some kids had thrown rocks
at and rendered bloody and unconscious. I
nursed it back to health and tried to return it
to nature but it had become too domestic and
was a wonderful affectionate little guy until
it finally got sick and died.
When I lived in a separate house I left the
door open at night for the cat to come in and
out and hedgehogs made the habit of coming
in to eat the catfood. At one time there were
eighteen of them and they were very competitive and unsocial and, of course, not very
easy to pet and make friends with.
Aside from the infrequent wayward pigeon
or squirrel, I haven’t made too many cross
species friends lately. I don’t welcome mosquitoes.
A seminar and the Olympic spirit
by Thanos Kalamidas
2006-09-27
the daily e-magazine
Reading about the First
Seminar on the Autonomy of the Olympic and
Sports Movement, I have
to admit that I was really
impressed. The seminar
was held at the Olympic
Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, on September 21st and, according to the Olympic
committee announcements, brought together IOC Members, Presidents of International Federations and National Olympic
Committees to kick off a series of discussions on the matter.
I do respect the spirit of the Olympic Games,
after all I am Greek, and the Olympic Games
is part of my history, but what this International Olympic Committee has to do with the Ancient Olympic Games or with Pierre de Coubertin, the prompter of the modern Olympic
movement, is another story all together. But
what bothered me more was the title of the
seminar: the Autonomy of the Olympic and
Sports Movement.
The name of the seminar leaves the hint that
somebody doesn’t allow the Olympic movement to be independent and with the knowledge of what happened with Greece just two
years ago, plus the suspicion of what’s happening in China from now till 2008, I find the
whole thing both provocative and suspicious.
However, let’s start from the next Olympic
Games in Peking, China.
I’m not going to judge the political system.
This is not the right article for that, but the
modern Olympic Games supposedly represents the ancient spirit, which means, peace,
equality, respect, democracy. After all, these
did inspire the ancient king who first organized them after seeing his land becoming a
battlefield between Sparta and Athens.
China, on the other side, is one of the biggest
powers, the most populated country on the
planet, the biggest market in the world, a huge
financial interest for the companies that fund
the Olympic pockets nowadays. China is also
a country that infringes human rights and that
is not only coming from the ‘enemies of the
state’ but from the UN, the Security Council,
Amnesty International and more legitimate institutions. Tens of people die every single year
sentenced to the death penalty while the belief
in any kind of religion is an excuse for imprisonment.
While people starve in some places of China,
thousands will work for the glory of the state
to build stadiums that will glorify the Chinese
worker internationally. While people live at
the limits of poverty, they will be working
for the glory of the almighty state. The Olympic Committee can be blind when it comes to
profit and the profits from a huge country like
China are equally huge. So, democracy is out
of the question. But why do we complain…
Hitler had the Olympic Games in Berlin!
Respect, since when did the Olympic Committee respect anybody? Bribes, sex and drugs,
that’s what the Olympic Committee’s motto
has been in the last few years. Former kings,
criminal dictators, corrupted government bureaucrats and greedy businessmen constitute
this committee with their leader and chairman,
a former athlete from the period drugs invaded
sports, Mr. Rogge.
Hypocrisy is their slogan, every time I’m
thinking about it I cannot believe it, a man can
run hundred meters in less than nine seconds.
That is simply impossible. Mr. Rogge is after
doping, a farce with which he is very familiar
continues >>>>
from his sporting days. They pillory every
athlete they can catch on drugs but most
of the drug companies have already found
ways for the doctors not to trace their
drugs, when an inspection happens all the
athletes are warned and many of the holy
members of the committee are, according
to rumours, on the payroll of these companies. What respect then?
And peace. This where I have nothing to
say. The war has often stopped the Olympic Games, the Olympic Games never
managed to stop war. Kids will continue
die in Somalia and Sudan while Peking
will have the opening ceremony and if it
is not Somalia and Sudan it will be another
poor country all in the name of international peace.
Equality? Just tell me one athlete that is
participating in the Olympic Games and is
not a millionaire. The very same companies that fund the committee are funding
the athletes; their pay often represents the
annual income of some countries. In the
last Olympic Games athletes threatened
that they would not participate if their
country didn’t promise a certain amount of
money!
But as I said in the beginning, there is the
experience of the last Olympics where
Greece was forced by the Olympic Committee to build stadiums that will never be
used again. They spent a mythic amount
of money for security trapping the whole
country into a payback marathon that will
last at least a couple of decades and all that
for what? It gave Coca Cola more sales,
drugs to have more sales and the committee members to enjoy more bribes and sex
scandals.
The athletes who take part in the Olympic Games are supposedly amateurs. Yeah
right, just like the dream team that represents the USA in the Olympic basketball
tournament - the highest paid athletes in
the world! Now they are planning to add
golf to the Olympic Games, the ‘game’
that stereotypes the idea that sport is for
the few. I suppose Tiger Woods covers the
amateur’s prototype!
Coming now to the subject of this seminar,
I think that this Olympic Committee enjoys more independence than it should and
they are lucky that the government haven’t
taken the decision to interfere, scared of
the political cost. Perhaps we are reaching
the end of the Olympic Games or seeing
the spirit of the Olympic Games become
a ghost!
I have the experience
bby Thanos Kalamidas
2006-09-29
the daily e-magazine
In British parliamentary history there is something that
most parliaments have gradually adopted. The shadow government, for every office of the
British government there is a
shadow minister that questions,
controls and reports the actions of the government from the opposition.
In the conference of the Labour Party, a new star
appeared: the shadow prime minister and his name
is Gordon Brown. Tony Blair said that it is hard to
let it go and everybody could sense that the man is
not going or at least he’s going to be there, somewhere around reminding everybody about what he
did for them. He often reminds me of these mothers
you find in books that always complaining that they
sacrifice their lives for their kids, while they have
totally destroyed their own kids.
Tony Blair is exactly like that, when he will step
out and, after a brief holiday probably in Spain, he
will return going on and on about what he did for
Britain. I’m not sure what he did for Britain, but I’m
sure about what he did for the Labour Party, in simple words, he destroyed it! He managed to succeed
exactly where even Maggie failed and if the Conservative Party hasn’t managed anything out of it
then that is totally their fault and it shows that there
is a serious problem with British politics.
Tony urged the party to unite and win a fourth term,
but he forgot to ask which party. Which party really, even the Conservatives are getting a bit confused; they never saw their whole ideology put in
practice so well before Tony Blair. Even Margaret
Thatcher must be happy in her throne. Not to mention the American neo-Republicans and brother
George. After three terms with Tony, the only thing
the Americans don’t want to see is a Conservative
government. Who would ever believe that?
Does anybody remember John Smith? He was the
man who started the ‘reinvention’ of Labour and left
it in the hands of Tony Blair and his new-Labourites. Smith accomplished an unbelievable feat in the
history of the Labour Party by abolishing the unions block vote and replacing it with ‘one member,
one vote’ and that was the end of unions, the biggest
force inside the Labour Party.
What was left was a party that had no difference
with the Conservative Party; after all, they had a
common enemy, the left wing members of the unions and the Liverpool gang. Neil Kinnock, from the
other side, after being defeated in every sense from
Maggie gave up and compromised in his nowhere
role as the balance figure inside the party, enjoying,
in the end, his role as representative of Britain in the
EU as commissionaire and be the Trojan Horse for
a number of unexplained legislations inspired from
the Blair’s neo-labour conservatism.
After that, Tony was free, the man would probably
be better with the Conservative Party, but he had
family ties and traditions with the Labour Party, so
this is where he chose to make a career. The Labour Party became the Blair family little house on
the prairie with a lot of Blair-clones and Cherie’s
hairdresser or better stylist…running around.
This is where Gordon Brown comes. A shadow of
Tony Blair, a shadow of a shadow Labour. Of course,
there were the usual stories, such as Cherie calling him a liar. Naturally the woman knows how to
spot a liar; she lived with one for a long time. What
else was she expecting as her husband’s successor?
A better liar! That’s probably why she was so bitter. Thinking about it, it must be another reason for
her bitterness, she will have to live with Tony more
hours a day and that’s too much for anybody.
Gordon Brown, in his speech at the conference, said
I have the experience, no doubt. He was there while
Tony was building his party, he definitely has the
experience first of all to tear apart Tony’s work and
to build his ultra new-Labour Party! We have seen it
happen; we have the experience as well.
Mohammad Vs Mozart:
Stupidity won
by Thanos Kalamidas
2006-09-29
the daily e-magazine
All my life I believed that
there is a limit to everything. There is one point
that you cannot go any further. If you do, then you
find yourself on a new road.
Somehow this belief applies
to everything and to everybody, even to the
Berlin opera company.
Kirsten Harms, the director of the Berlin opera company, announced that they are going to
cancel the Mozart production Idomeneo (Learn
More in Ovipedia), over security fears because at
one point it features the severed heads of ancient
Greek god Poseidon, Jesus and prophet Mohammad. In her announcement she commented that,
“We know the consequences of the conflict over
the caricatures,” before adding, “We believe that
needs to be taken very seriously and we hope for
your support.”
I’m not sure if the director and her advisors consulted anybody before taking this decision or if
it was a naïve thought, but first of all they are
definitely not going to get my support since they
are opening a new road to this conflict away
from the usual pathetic clerics and the Iranian
mullahs. I sincerely hoped that the Berlin opera
company would cross all the borders and all the
limits of which we have all been afraid.
What’s really her worry? That Bin Laden will
be angry with Mozart? And if she’s so sensitive
over the feelings of a few fanatics shouldn’t she
be more sensitive for the music lovers? Does
she really believe that nobody will react to all
these Muslim prejudice? Because that’s exactly
what it is, in the name of a culture I have to kill
Mozart. What’s next?
Are we going to change history as well so we
are not hurting the feelings of the poor Muslim
clerics in Pakistan, Turkey and Iran? Are we going to rewrite the crusades and the invasion in
Europe of the Ottoman Empire? The crusaders
will become the blood thirsty animals and Mohammad II, who destroyed and raped Constantinople, is going to be the peaceful savior that
brought civilization?
By canceling a performance of a Mozart opera
the Berlin opera company took the whole thing
down a new road, where do we stop? If these
people have read German history they will know
that everything started with small compromises
over sixty years ago. You cannot compromise to
things like that.
Mrs. Kirsten Harms, harmed culture and civilization more than she will ever probably understand. She voluntary bowdlerized a piece of art.
She openly provoked exactly what democracy
represents, openness, tolerance and freedom of
expression. And she did that to something that
was composed centuries ago. Oddly enough,
the only ones who came out to support her idea
were fanatics who felt that they won…again! If
she wanted to avoid the war of civilizations she
just started one.
A few years ago we all stood and protested
with what happened to Salman Rushdie and the
threats to his life. Would Mrs. Harms have given
him to the mullahs to express their friendly feelings and superior peaceful belief by chopping
his head off?
And one last question because I saw no reaction of the so called intellectual Muslims. On the
contrary, the German Muslim council saluted
the cancellation as very positive, is this how the
dialogue starts? What’s next? The Magic Flute
because that has something as well…
the daily e-magazine
Irish Festival in Finland
by Asa Butcher
2006-09-29
Irish music fans will be
happy to learn that the
21st Irish Festival in Finland will be hosted across
the country from Friday
29th September to Sunday 8th October. The lineup of bands looks to continue the festival’s
commitment of bringing the best of Irish
music to Finnish shores.
Ireland’s Ambassador His Excellency Antoin
Mac Unfraidh was very happy that the festival
is taken out of Helsinki, “It reminded me that
we aren’t just in Helsinki, but here for all of
Finland; it is broadens the experience of Ireland outside of Helsinki.”
If, like me, your knowledge of Irish music begins with Terry Wogan’s ‘Floral Dance’, moves
on to The Fureys and Davey Arthur, and then
ends with The Corrs, the festival is the perfect
opportunity for you to broaden your musical
horizons and enjoy a pint of Guinness or three
at the same time.
Beginning life as a small Helsinki-based festival in the mid-Eighties and growing into one
of the largest festivals of Irish music in Continental Europe is a feat of which the organisers can be proud. The festival has attracted big
names over the past two decades, such as The
Chieftains, The Dubliners, Christy Moore,
Sharon Shannon, Sean Keane, Mary Coughlan, The Saw Doctors and Luka Bloom, while
this year is no different.
Dervish, one of Ireland’s top groups and known
across the globe, are headlining the festival,
returning after a 14-year absence and ready to
celebrate Irish music in their own distinctive
style. Dervish have the shared the stage with
such names as James Brown, The Buena Vista
Social Club, Oasis, Sting and REM, and have
won many music awards, which isn’t too bad
for a group from Sligo, a little Irish town of
18,000 people.
Fresh from winning the Céilí Band competition at the World Fleadh, held in Ballybunion,
County Kerry, Turloughmore Céilí Band are
heading to Finland with the aim of teaching
their audiences how to dance céilí (pronounced
‘cayley’). Céilí is the traditional Gaelic social
dance in Ireland and the general format of
dancing is the “Set”.
A Set consists of four couples, with each pair
facing another in a square or rectangular formation. Each couple exchanges position with
the facing couple, and also facing couples exchange partners, while all the time keeping in
step with the beat of the music - don’t worry,
the band will be on hand to teach the basics to
beginners. Olli Pellikka, the Executive Director of the festival, revealed that during his first
visit to Irelandhe got up to dance the céilí, but
soon [Pure Drop play traditional Irish music.]
realised it was the Irish national anthem.
Pure Drop, a group of talented musicians from
the west of Ireland, will bring good Irish traditional music to various parts of Finland during
the whole festival. Mickey Dunne is one of the
greats of uilleann pipes, Batt O’Connor sings
and plays bouzouki, and Alan Egan is one of
most talented young concertina players.
There will also be Finnish groups and musicians playing Irish music, such as Acoustic
Flow and Markku Laurén Trio, while the Patron of the festival is legendary Finnish singersongwriter, Heikki ‘Hector’ Harmalta.
“The most beautiful music of all is the music
of what happens.” - Irish proverb
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