Antonio

Happy birthday!

Oh,God!!! Europe is totally screwed! And I'm terrified now (I'm serious) because migrants have come in Thessaloniki's port (MY CITY!!!) as well! Not to mention numerous of other European cities...These are the problems that policies like ''Come and go as you like'' cause!!! Well done EU! Thanks for that!

Happy birthday mate!!!

Hahaha! Yeah! And you live in...? I'm just asking,because you said ''I go north rather than south''.

Really nice bro!!! I happen to know a bit of Turkish and how to read the Cyrillic Alphabet,and I think that Turkish and Mongolian are very muvh alike! The sound both languages make,I mean.

OMG!!! What a tragedy... Well,this guy's dangerous!!!

Excellent show. It was a hit even in the male demographic in the US. Totally!!! The whole series is amazing and has such suspense,that when you watch an episode,you really want to see what happens to the next one! Every single episode of Pretty Little Liars is like a drug!!! No wonder why it's a hit even among male population!

If you watch Desperate Housewives(which is damn good!),you'll probably adore: Pretty Little Liars Grey's Anatomy Kyle XY (I know this is an old one,but I can't stop watching it!!!) These are my favorite TV shows!!!

Nice explanations,guys! Thanks!!!

Have you ever seen 2 people be nice to eachother for more then a year? Eventually something happens and the relation sours Well, not only that but it's politics. They believe in different political ideologies - and when it comes to politics or religion - if your view is different you can't be friends. So,it's just about ideological differences? If so,could you please elaborate on that?

Guys,sorry for interrupting your discussion ,but I've always wondered what the deal is with Democrats and Republicans in the USA.Why is there that ''rivalry'' let's say between them??? Can somebody,please,explain this to me???

Like I said,Greece can't be safe if it doesn't spend money on its defense.I know no one of you guys can understand this,you find it foolish.But,please believe me,it's not.You really have to come and live in Greece in order to understand what's really happenning here,and of course understand the Greco-Turkish relations (which are,sadly,poor). As for the Cyprus issue,I think that it will take a lot of years until it's resolved! Tell us? I'm sorry regardless of Turk-Greek relations, there is no way Greece and Turkey are going to be in live ammunition shooting in foreseeable future. There is no reason for Turkey to jeopardize it's economy, defense and it's NATO membership to start a fight over a rivalry that appears more and more of a tradition thing rather than actual. I think Turkey will be busy on it's southern border rather than Western, they have other priorities and so does Greece. OK,I'll mention a couple of examples. First example: Turkish fighters fly over the Aegean and Greek islands,which means they violate Greek airspace,almost on a daily basis. The past two years,the Aegean was ''quiet'',there were only a few violations,especially last year.However,this year is the ''Greek-airspace-violation spree''! Definitely,this doesn't show will for peace from the Turkish side. Second example: During an exercise of the Hellenic Navy,in which air ''targets'' where being shot,the Turkish bugging ship ÇANDARLI entered the Greek territorial waters and the firing range of the Greek vessels.Although the captain of the Turkish ship was repeatedly warned that it was not safe,and despite the calls it received in order for it to leave (because a military exercise was taking place),he vehemently refused to leave,with the lame excuse that ''the firing range is not recognised'' ! Only when fighter jets of the Hellenic Air Force flew above the ship,a shot from a Greek vessel ''burst'' just 300 yards away from its prow and a Greek frigate approached it to warn it AGAIN that it was not safe,did it leave! These are happening now,when Greece is focusing on its negotiations with the Eurozone.To add an extra point,the Hellenic Ministry of Defense and all branches of the Hellenic Armed Forces are on alert,because Turkey seems to be ''preparing'' for a military crisis in the Aegean. Anyway,I don't want to talk about this anymore,but I really hope you find these reasons rational.

It's in the forums emoticon list. Just click the smiley in the text toolbox, then click "show all". Yay,I found it,and many more emoticons!!! Thanks!!!

Wow,cool!!! But,still,isn't it pretty hot in South Africa? Not in the winter, no... lol. Unless you call snowing weather hot. No,no! i'm asking,because South Africa's climate is kinda trppical,isn't it??? Not tropical no. It's more temperate. In the winter it goes to around -5 degrees celcius with day temperatures around 15 degrees and in the summer day temperatures go as high as 40 degrees in some places but the average would be around 35. Ah,sounds like you pretty much have the ''same'' climate as we do in Greece.But,in Greece there's just TOO MUCH damn humidity,and when it's like 35 degrees Celsius,it feels like 80!!! And the winter temperatures,at least here in Thessaloniki,don't drop below -5 degrees Celsius,but,again with the humidity,it feels like -20!!!

No,no,I know what you mean,Duderonomy. Besides,if the Greeks hadn't revolted against the Ottoman Empire (which,based on what you said indicated,that they wanted that particular situation to change),there would have been no Greek State. But,what I said about ''unfriendly comments'',was quite personal.I mean,I know that their content was actually anger and a will for my country to change,but I perceived them to be a little bit ''hostile'',like ''Greece is bankrupt! Die,Greece!'' (this is an example).Maybe I misinterpreted them.So,that's what I said it was quite personal. And,it's sad,indeed,that in our situation the ones who suffer are the Greek citizens! Of course there were some Greeks that evaded taxes,had their money ''hidden'' in banks of Switzerland etc.,but some do not represent the whole.And,of course Greece has A LOT to offer,not only to Europe,but to the whole world.However,we were governed by unremarkable politicians who both only cared about their personal gain,and made monstrous mistakes relating to Greece's economy and,of course,industry.They counted on loans and imports,and completely abolished the Greek industries (note that Greek products were and are of great quality ).That's the main reason that led the country in the brink of bankruptcy and low competitiveness.I won't talk about Tsipras,because he's been in power for only 5 months.As you understand,only time will tell! Ahh!!! Sounds like you had a really nice time!!! Go for it,man!!!

OMG!!! THAT'S JUST AWESOME!!! Have fun,then!!!

Wow,cool!!! But,still,isn't it pretty hot in South Africa? Not in the winter, no... lol. Unless you call snowing weather hot. No,no! i'm asking,because South Africa's climate is kinda tropical,isn't it???

Wow,cool!!! But,still,isn't it pretty hot in South Africa?

Like I said,Greece can't be safe if it doesn't spend money on its defense.I know no one of you guys can understand this,you find it foolish.But,please believe me,it's not.You really have to come and live in Greece in order to understand what's really happenning here,and of course understand the Greco-Turkish relations (which are,sadly,poor). As for the Cyprus issue,I think that it will take a lot of years until it's resolved!

Too late... But,it was good,wasn't it??? And your emoticon with the torches was DAMN GOOD!!! Where did you find it??? I agree.Look,since like ever Greece was in trouble with it's economics,but the BIG trouble started right after the accession of the country in the Eurozone.I mean,it was like a bubble that was growing and growing until this very spot,where it blew off and we're fucked up (sorry about that! ) Like I said,there's a reason why Greece spends,indeed,so much on its military.Please,don't make me elaborate on that,because I might offend someone and no one in here (at least I think so) will actually understand my point! The only thing I can say is,that without military spending,even with minimum military spending,Greece is not safe... Sure,both sides are responsible for the current situation.Both sides with their decisions and moves contributed,more or less,to the current situation not only in Greece,but in the entire Europe.But,the former Greek governments are to blame more for this economic mess in my country. Ahh,don't worry,I know you don't have any ill will towards Greece or any other European country!!! But,some comments just weren't that friendly (no offense!!! ),so I wanted to remind everyone that we're all friends and allies here,and there's no need for anger. Everyone wants this situation to actually foster bonds between the countries for a more united Europe,and let's hope that the current conflict between European countries will cease and they'll rebuild their relations based on mutual trust and solidarity!

Guys,I read your replies,and I realized that almost everyone said pretty much the same things.So,I thought it would be better to reply/give information to all of you with just one post.I didn't want to reply to every single one of you,because it would take 5 more pages! So,I'd first like to do a flashback in Greece's ''economic'' history: Greece,a small Mediterranean country,had Drachma as its own currency.It was not a rich country like Germany,France,Belgium,Italy etc. (and I don't think it will ever be,at least not in the near future! ) but its people lived with dignity and they didn't have many problems.Later,Greece joined the EU,and later the Eurozone.Did it join the Eurozone fairly,however?No,because the Greek politicians actually ''falsified'' deficit numbers.It is also said that they ''hid'' one billion of debt,but this is not related to the coutry's Eurozone entry.In a few words,Greece didn't actually meet the five Eurozone-accession criteria.Anyways,after adopting this new,strong currency,it saw its GDP and its economy,in general,''booming''.For a lot of people,it was quite strange for such a small nation.However (all the trouble starts from this point),just because the Euro was a ''powerful'' currency,the former Greek governments realized,or at least thought that they had countless possibilities.So,they started this ''infrastructure'' frenzy,in order to ''boost'' the economy.They built motorways (Egnatia Odos is the most striking example) and built new railway systems,like the Athens Subway,the (STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION,FOR GOD'S SAKE!!!) Thessaloniki Subway,the Athens Tram,the Athens Suburban Railway,the new airport in Athens (Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport),the expansion of one of the runways of the Macedonia International Airport of Thessaloniki (again,STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION,FOR GOD'S SAKE!!!) ,the Thessaloniki Suburban Railway (THANK GOD THIS ONE'S COMPLETE!!!)etc.They did things that benefited the country,indeed,you can't say the opposite.But,HOW THE HECK DID THEY DO/ARE THEY STILL DOING ALL THAT GREAT STUFF??? AND THESE ARE SOOO DAMN EXPENSIVE!!! (they also bought military equipment,but many of it wasn't even RECEIVED,but I think we shouldn't talk about military expenditures,because it's a subject that you don't know a lot about,believe me,I'm saying this as a Greek.The government didn't buy weapons,just because they woke up one day and said ''OK,today and from now on,we'll be buying military equipment!!!) By getting LOANS,of course!!! Everything was being done with borrowed money! And they thought that Greece could pay them off.But,hell NO!!! I think that you all agree that the governments of that era shouldn't have been borrowed sooo much money,but they should have tried to realize at least a few of the above-mentioned projects with their own-country's money.And I tottaly agree with you.Although Greece had gotten enough loans,it kept getting more and more,when it suddenly reached a point where it couldn't pay them off,even with the country's income.So,it started getting new loans in order to pay older ones,until this very spot,where Greece's debt is huge because of these mistakes,and people are suffering because of them!!! I know that the Greek politicians practically didn't know what they were doing,and not just about the above-mentioned,but for everything,including the extremely high pensions,public insurance services etc.!!! I agree with you,guys,and no one says the opposite!!! The Greek governments spent too much money in fields where it wasn't necessary!!! Then,Greece implemented austerity measures (under Papandreou and later Samaras-Venizelos),which completely destroyed the already fragile Greek economy,and its people! And,the high pensions were cut in half (so,no more hign pensions,as many of you argue),expenditures in the fields of education and the health system were reduced DRAMATICALLY (you could say that they don't even spend money any more on these),a lot of employees in the private sector were fired,as well as in the public sector (that was OK,there were too many civil servants! ).And all these came to add to the fact that Greece as an economy relies only on tourism,merchant shipping and agriculture (which is slowly dying!).As a result,the economy COLLAPSED,and the ''fate'' of Greece was only paying and paying and paying,until it has no more debts.But,this means,that in the meantime the country won't even have a slight chance to improve economically and get out of the crisis (which is both financial and humanitarian).That's what (and now Tsipras time! ) the Greek PM wants to negotiate.He wants his country to pay its debts,of course,but with different conditions,that will allow Greece to ''take a deep breath''.So,no one's getting angry here about the debts we have to pay,as I saw before.No one said ''we WON'T pay them back''. And,definitely war IS NOT an option! Anyways,guys,I said too much.But,we really don't have to quibble over such stuff! Sure everyone has his/her opinions,but if anything,we're all friends and allies! We don't have to destroy our mood!!!

Excuse me for asking, but what are these huge expenses? I mean,where,as far as you know,does the government spend money on? OK,now your exaggerating... You can't declare war for economic issues! Then,Greece should have declared war on Germany for the compensations for all the Nazi attrocities and for the money that Nazi Germany forced Greece to borrow to,with conditions that were sooo in favor of the German side...

I,partly,agree with you! On one hand,during the transitonal period,things would be very hard,as ccabal86 correctly stated.Drachma would be a very ''weak'' and cheap currency compared to the ''strong'' and expensive Euro.As a result,Greece would not be able to import goods from the Eurozone countries,but from countries that have ''weaker'' currencies,as well,like Romania,Bulgaria,Russia,Turkey etc.On the other hand,however,the currency would probably become ''stronger'' after a year or so,and domestic industry would begin to flourish (OK,at least as much as it can flourish here in Greece ).So,the economy would get better,and Greece would begin to pay off its debts.Like you said,I also think austerity would be the least beneficial solution,because the suggested terms are too harsh for the Greek people and the country itsself (if you want I can PM them to you),and there won't be any chance for Greece to recover from the crisis until it pays a whole of its dept back.

There are still money in the banks,although too little.However,one can still withdraw up to 60 Euros per day.And,Greece might get more money via ELA,of the ECB.This will be decided in today's Eurogroup. Look,I really don't know whether Greece runs out of money or not.It depends on how the negotiations will be conducted.However,I don't think that we would start printing Drachmas,because the government is going to fall.The Greek people didn't elect Tsipras nor voted ''No'' in order for him to lead us out of the Eurozone,or the EU.But,even if we left the Euro and adopted the Drachma,of course the situation in the country would be awful (provided that Greece is an already economicaly weak nation) for a year or so,like you correctly stated,but no country remains unchanging (in the field of economics) like that.So,Greece would boost its industry (because now we import almost everything,apart from food ) since importing stuff would be impossible,and the economy would improve,and all Greeks would live their lives with dignity (I couldn't say the same for the current situation... ).Anyway,I don't think we're leaving the Euro! Besides,a Grexit wouldn't only be devastating for Greece,but for the entire Eurozone,as well,as we import almost everything (like I said before).So,it would be a lose-lose decision.And,let's be realistic,if Greece adopted the Drachma,it would have sooo many needs to cover,that it wouldn't bother paying its debts back,at least until the situation improved vastly.The Europeans are not crazy enough to lose so much money because of egoisms from both sides.

Apart from the fact that Greece takes loans all the time to cover its needs as a country,it's really not the case,and is under no circumstances as simple as one would think it is. I mean,it's not just about cutting back on expenditures! And Greeks don't get angry because it's time for them to pay the loan back! Unfortunately,the Media have presented the whole situation in a way,so that the Greeks eventually seem like the lazy people of Europe (while they are the most hard-working in Europe,just behind the Czechs) who are not willing to pay their loans back. I repeat,and I would like to stress that THIS Is NOT THE CASE,and one should come live in Greece in order to make safe conclusions about the situation here. This is coming from one that voted no? Must be, because if you voted yes I think you would be really pissed right now. You voted no, assuming the EU was bluffing and will buckle to the terms. I think you're wrong. Try running your socialist government without other people's money... things are about to get really bad when you thought it couldn't get any worse. Uhm,I didn't even vote,because I'm not eligible to,I'm not 18. And I'm not pissed,don't worry,we're just discussing! Anyway,the EU was,in a way,bluffing.First,all other European politicians said if Greeks voted ''No'',they would automatically be led out of the Eurozone,and less-likely,the EU.However,right after the referendum,they said that the EU was ready to negotiate with Greece.Quite strange,isn't it? I'd also like to add,that a vast percentage of the Greek debt is illegal,and even the IMF (Christine Lagarde) urged a restructuring of it,so we don't run our government with other people's money! And one last thing: believe me,things just can't get worse than they already are,even with a Grexit (unlikely to happen) and wth the drachma being issued. Besides,you can't impose measures that ''kill'' an entire nation,only to get money back! That's what our government wants to do,it wants to improve the conditions of the new agreement,so that it gives Greece even a tiny prospective to exit the crisis and grow,both socially and economicaly.