athinaios
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Posts posted by athinaios
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Yes, people should have self-determination, and there's lots freedom in a state of nature as they say. (Except when there aren't good choices available...)
But, then people discover that larger societies and cooperation come with benefits. Of course, the devil is in the details as they say, but Britain was getting a great deal out of its membership in the EU. I understand that not everybody benefits equally, but on the whole it's been a positive for GB.
There was lots of misinformation about the Brexit. Those leaders who campaigned for it are now mumbling a different tune as to the huge benefits that Brits immediately (or long-term) would enjoy after the exit. One issue was immigration and free travel within the union, but illegal immigration wasn't GB's own problem; all the members had that. Also, GB wasn't a signatory of the Schengen Agreement (free, no passport travel among members). Plus, GB had own currency, etc.
Many Brits didn't fully understand the details of what the EU membership entailed. I'm not saying they didn't have the right to say they want out, but I also think the vote was based on misinformation and on many levels of dissatisfaction with own economic status, against globalization, against the economic elites, immigration and fear of refugees, the struggling middle, lower classes, etc.
As for important revisions, many constitutions require big majorities, on the theory that 50% +1 vote is a slim margin that can change from day to day. In the US, 2/3 Congress (both chambers: House-Senate) must vote 2/3 to amend the constitution, plus 3/4 of states needed.............
This Brexit triggered lots of discussion about Greece. I know we had a long and heated discussion last year on the topic, but let me reiterate my view that Greece outside the EU would be far worse. The country has demonstrated incompetence at every turn, and when the going was good it was not because Greece was isolated and left to its own devices. Before you start cursing at me, just think of the systems and projects Greece has undertaken without foreign direction...... A few things come to my mind... tourism, the Olympics, the (gasp) Super League, elections, pollution, etc, etc....
I'm not in favor of foreign tutelage for Greece, because foreigners want to protect and advance their own interests. But, sometimes, irresponsible people need a good structure and supervision to recover. Greece needs to be more European to solve its problems. The terms are very harsh now, I think excessive, but if Greece is to change for the better, it's through the EU. Hopefully, there will be a "haircut" of the debt but Greece by-and-large is still steeped in corruption and inefficiency while blaming others for its mismanagement.
On a side note, there are lots of media talking about ..20 years since the death of Andreas. Well, he was in a unique position to do great things for his country but did great harm by setting Greece on a disastrous path 30 years in the making.
It could be said that Greeks themselves were always so fractious and warring that were not able to cooperate ever since the 1821 Revolution, they looked to the superpowers for leadership. Yes, the first Greek parties were... The British, French, Russian... It's like when the Greek teams were hiring foreign refs for their football games for the derbies.... No?
If the European leadership reads the Brexit as a warning sign that the middle classes should be the main beneficiaries of economic policies, Europe will emerge stronger. It may also benefit Greece in that the national debt should not be paid at the expense of killing the debtor. But, no matter what, Greece has to change its practices and they way it does business, and I believe it can be best done within the EU, and under supervision. I know this injures national pride, but...
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and now something fun:
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Unfortunately people seem to confuse reality with Reality TV. They think it's the same thing.
Hey, are you knocking Drumpf? He's going to make America great again....
[click on the title in the video if this link doesn't work; HBO is blocking this video from being played on other websites, but it's OK on Youtube]
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Typical business in Greece, which shows how things "work" there.
I got old waiting for a proper home for our team. Even in this forum, back some 12-15 years ago, we were excited to hear that the new PAO home (not at Leoforos) would be ready for the 100th anniversary which was in ..2008.
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Barca wins another championship and could win the cup too. Over all, in the last 10 years, this team has been phenomenal. Even though I'm very happy for Barca, there's a chasm between the elite teams and the rest of Europe. Yes, money isn't everything but it sure makes a big difference. How can you compete with an elite team when it can spend more for one player than the whole budget of a Greek team?
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I'm happy for Leicester even though my team is Tottenham.
I wouldn't jump into comparisons about Ranieri. Some coaches are better suited for a club rather than a national team. Ranieri has said he is a club coach. Managing a national team requires time to get to know the players available. I don't know if Ranieri came in and saw the total disrepair of Greek football and said, screw it, I'll just make some money. He could easily have not tried to do what Rehaggel and Santos did--and they had a revolt by the Greek players--when they asked them to show up for practice early in the morning. Our primadonas wanted to show up after noon.
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Great ideas and plans fail if you don't have the right people to implement them.
Also, enough of this "proud people" and whatever. Yeah, everyone is special.... But ...
Have you heard of "The Misery of Being Greek" [1975] http://users.uoa.gr/~nektar/arts/prose/nikos_dimou_misfortune.htm'>
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The problem with Essien and players like him for a team like PAO is that he is the top $$ earner while producing very little. This is a destabilizing force in a ..poor club when others are asked to take a lot less. Berg was the 3rd top earner, and he has been a fan favorite and more productive for the team.
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To be or not to be? This is the question. Or, more aptly:
- Do you think UEFA will kick Greece out?
- Will this be a bad or a good thing?
- Can there be internal reform to create a truly professional and fair league?
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You have first to demonstrate that it's better to know history and the truth, and thus be open minded.
Those who have such knowledge realize that much of history is a struggle among civilizations & cultures who used any means, including brutality and propaganda, to achieve their goals.
But, having such a grasp of true history usually leads individuals to worrying about pressing matters in the here-and-now (quality of life issues), instead of gearing up for a fight over claims about Alexander's legacy.
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I watched extensive highlights of the game. This team, the way they play, isn't good enough for Europe. Yes, no Leto, no win last Sunday. We struggled to beat a team that is at the bottom of the league.
A combo Leto-Berg will be nice for us for the playoffs.
I'd be hopeful if we had Ouzounidi as a coach. He's got Panionios performing above their wildest expectations.
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Leadership matters and its decisions affect lives. Same in politics, same in private business, same in all organizations. However, leadership comes in many styles and flavors. Not all are appropriate everywhere. You can be a great business person making real estate deals and firing people on tv, but this doesn't make you a good political leader, in the sense that you can actually do something good for the people.
Alafouzos may be good in leading a media outlet like SKAI, but he's a terrible club leader. Not only he's ignorant of football but he has made horrible choices as to the management team that surrounds him and advises him. A great leader is not great because he knows everything; but rather he finds great people to work for him.
Conviction and staying true to principle may sound good, but if a battle plan is proving disastrous you've go to amend it or defeat is certain. Ala seems to be stubborn (?) or unable to judge the ..judgment of his people. He stuck with Anastasiou way too long, even after one after another target were being lost this season. Same stupidity with Strama now. This guy had not succeeded in anything anywhere he coached. Yet, he was the one selected by Ala. Everyone who knows football sees that Strama lost the game against gavroi by (again) making the wrong subs and pulling the team back.
But, Ala also has worsened the internal culture of PAO. Internal culture is like the blood that keeps an organization alive and well. It's my view that the club does not have a winning attitude, nobody has confidence in anybody else in the club, the coaches have not inspired the players nor had they gotten their respect; the players don't know or care about the PAO name, history; and the whole club has become a whining child, blaming everything and everybody else for their misery. It's the wrong focus. Yes, the league, the refs, and whathaveyou suck but this is not your biggest problem.
What Ala said after the Karaiskaki game is typical incompetence and transferance of blame to anything but himself, the coach, and the team's managers. Some self-reflection is necessary, but I'm afraid we'll see more of the same for a long time.
Ala has spent lots of his own money to pay for the club's debts and other running expenses, so he feels he's entitled to doing whatever he wants, which is wrong since PAO should not be his private toy, as Tzigger used to think/do in the past.
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I don't know how the expression "winter coat" (palto) came about, but Essien is such. Not to brag, I said this in this forum last summer. :(
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Like I said...I can't blame SYRIZA for the mess they have only been in power for 54 weeks...It would be absurd to blame them...
but SYRIZA is merely a creation of Greek society over 45 years...they represent the failed Greek system and ideology....they are not the answer.....they are a result and part of the system...
You may wait for the revolution.....it may arrive....but one day soon after a similar system to what we have today will still exist...
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There is no doubt that greeks play the victim and the conspiracy card way too often...
I do not know how much of this can be attributed to the ottoman subject mentality...
as other Europeans seem to fall in the same trap......I had an Italian waitress a few months ago...who was very passionate about her anti- capitalist anti USA rant....It was all America's fault for her country going down the s%$#!... she sounded like a Tsipra speech writer...
Very good points. Yes, it goes back to the Ottoman rule and the immediate years of the new country. But, Greeks never managed to get their house in order, because of a certain culture.......
Almost everyone believes in conspiracies, plus the notion that Greeks are the smartest, plus the curse of a great past, which means the world owes Greece ..everything.
Many friends here believe in magical thinking too. That is, by exiting Europe, denouncing the debt, and declaring ..independence, things will be better and the road to greatness is open. Yeah. But, I look at the football league, run by Greeks, and I can't stop thinking that represents how things usually go in the whole country.
If, by magic, the national debt disappeared tomorrow, would you be confident in saying Greece would function as a modern, rational, efficient country? :huh:
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PAO got lucky to beat gavro early on, because until a few weeks ago, our team was hurting badly.
I'm happy we won another title, but I'd like to see lesser teams win the cup too. It shouldn't be PAO, Oly 99.99% of the time. If it weren't for these two teams playing very competitive games in Euroleague, basketball would be awful like football is in Greece.
They need to make the league competitive, and open all sports to all fans. Bring back the good fans and throw out the hooligans. Why shouldn't PAO and gavroi fans watch a game together? Are Greeks too immature and brutish that can't co-exist?
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Well, good luck. I can't take anything that people say from any side seriously! PAO's problem is not losing 2 gates, and the minister's bs won't solve anything.
The problem is the prevailing culture, that of corruption, violence, and incompetence at every level. If anyone wants to understand how Greek society operates, take a look at the sports leagues. Why, because in the other domain of politics, conspiracy theories about ..foreign intervention/ blame dominate. ;)
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Great game today, beat Arsenal in their home, 2-0. Fair result, Barca had more quality chances. Messi scored both, one penalty kick he won. It could have been at least twice as many if Suarez had been his usual self and not miss from great positions.
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Stramma has better tactics than anastasiou but his sub choices are terrible like Anastasiou's....
:la: Hmmmm. And, when those "better tactics" are going to be shown??
We played a second squad PAOK basically. Strama takes out Kaltsas and Vlachodimos, our 2 best players. Were they tired? Injured? I think it was Strama's tactics that cost us the game.
Anyway, he may be better than Yannis, but he better go to Karaiskaki and not lose.
As for the playoffs, I don't really care at this point as long as we get the Europa spot. We don't and we won't have a team to compete in the CL next season.
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We have not won in the last 5 games at home. Four of which we didn't even score. Typical (unfortunately) of dropping points and not advancing.
I don't think there's an urgency for this team right now. They're happy with 3rd place, and hope for the playoffs.
At this point, all of my hopes since the end of last season have been crushed, and in the worse possible way.... :xxx:
My only concern right now is that we go to Karaiskaki and not lose badly. But, again, when the expectations are very low for this team it might surprise us. They can't handle the pressure or the label of "favorite to win"....
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Arsenal has to be respected but they don't have a good defense and their offense is erratic. Their goal differential isn't good in the premier league. They're better than Oly but Arsenal struggled to advance out of the group stage.
I still have to favor Barca over 2 games.
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Barca is creative and Messi's penalty was for entertainment value since they were winning the game anyway. But, I think technically there was a violation since Suarez was not outside the box when Messi took the shot. In that case the ref could have ordered a repeat. But, regardless, it was a beauty. I just didn't know that Neymar was supposed to get it. I thought they planned to give Suarez the goal so he can advance as a top scorer in La Liga over Ronaldo.
As to the other point, Barca is a complete team, and for me, it's pure joy to watch them play. They've been criticized for passing (or hiding) the ball too much, but it's a skill I appreciate, and at any point they can break ahead with lots of options as to where to pass the ball and how to attack. This is something that takes a long time to perfect.
One of the reasons I became a Barca fan was its history, and its struggle against the fascist Franco, who was a huge fan of Real and tried to destroy Barca. But, it's been an attractive club for me over the years.
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Well, today, there's talk about Latsis and Alafouzos collaborating on rebuilding Leoforos.
Having a modern home is necessary but then all the violence and stupid fan behavior must stop. They have to attract fans who would come to watch a decent game, with their kids, and fans that can spend money. The hooligans have harmed the club tremendously.
I'm not sure whether Leoforos can be that modern football stadium because of the available size and location. I don't know. But, a proper home is necessary, and it has to be impressive.
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I think we have several members here who are Barca fans, so we should have our own thread if you like. Otherwise I'll delete/lock this thread if there's no interest or you think we should keep one thread for all La Liga topics.
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Gee, thanks, man. I'd have never suspected that. Ingenious.... To get one of your own to take over your hated adversary.
Com'on, give us more names. I can't wait....
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you won't get ahead in life being stupid, lazy and high. spiccoli from fast times was a movie character, real life is not hollywood.
That would depend on what you're trying to do ;)
I can think of lots of celebrities that do just that! No talent either, but they're famous because of those ..qualities!
Euro 2016 France
in European Championship
Posted
What a shame that Croatia lost to Portugal. OK, not a good game but C outplayed P; but the Portugese had one chance and came ontop. Santos has not changed P's national team for the better. I think it comes down to Ronaldo.... he's got a good day, the team has a better fortune.
I hope Poland goes through.
I loved Island (Iceland) beating those cocky English. The most expensive team with the most expensive coach did nothing but play like amateurs, while a tiny country with a tiny pool of players (tiny US state of Rhode Island has more soccer players than Iceland), played much better and had better scoring opportunities. I'd be very happy if Iceland did this June what Greece did 12 years ago.
Germany looks good though.