για λόγους συντήρησης.

Μόνο που η απόσταση ανάμεσα στο ανθρακικό οξύ των αναψυκτικών και στο διοξείδιο του άνθρακα είναι πολύ μεγάλη. Το πρώτο είναι αέριο που απλώς προκαλεί φούσκωμα στο στομάχι και το δεύτερο είναι ρύπος επικίνδυνος για την υγεία, που επιπλέον ευθύνεται για το φαινόμενο του θερμοκηπίου, επηρεάζοντας έτσι το παγκόσμιο κλίμα.

Η απόσταση είναι μηδέν, γιατί και τα δύο είναι η ίδια ακριβώς ουσία (CO2). Που ΔΕΝ είναι επικίνδυνη για την υγεία, είναι αυτό που εκπνέουμε 2000 φορές τη μέρα ΒΛΑΚΕΣ. Για το θερμοκήπιο *όντως* ευθύνεται.

(ΟΚ ΟΚ ξέρω ότι το ανθρακικό οξύ είναι H2CO3 και περιέχεται σε μικρές ποσότητες στο διάλυμα CO2+H2O των αναψυκτικών που γι’ αυτό το λόγο αποκαλούνται χαριστικά “ποτά με ανθρακικό οξύ” και όχι “ποτά με διοξείδιο”, αλλά νομίζω δεν είναι εκεί η ουσία).

These have been busy days for Greek bloggers. According to Greek government and mainstream media allegations (leaked late Friday night), press-gr.blogspot.com, one of the most popular (albeit not very highly regarded) greek blogs was in fact a blackmail industry. There had been tens of lawsuits by Greek statesmen, clergy, media stars and businessmen who have allegedly been blackmailed by the blog’s (yet mostly uknown) owners in order to avoid having defamatory content published on the blog, in the form of posts or anonymous comments. Blackmail is a felony in Greece, so the authorities can get a court order for the disclosure of private data such as a person’s IP. Allegedly, either the ISP or the blog hosting provider were forced to provide this data, and hence the editor of O Kosmos tou Ependyth newspaper (part of the Kouris media “empire” -and that’s about as extreme a euphemism as you can possibly get) was charged, had his apartment searched and his PC confiscated. He managed to avoid arrest during the weekend, which means now he cannot be arrested until his trial. I suppose. Or, more accurately, I deduce. From having seen him on the studios of three different live tv-shows on Monday. This, I must stress, is the story according to the authorities and the mainstream media. Plus the usual additives put on purely aesthetic grounds: off-shore mediators in Columbia, IP proxying via -of all places- Afghanistan, etc.

Mr. Kapsambelis denies all allegations, including the claim that there was a warrant issued for his arrest. He claims he is being chased for disturbing Greece’s corrupted elite. He claims what is being attacked here is the notion of people’s journalism, that is journalism by the people and for the people. In effect, what is being attacked is freedom of expression and freedom of information. Because -says Mr. Kapsambelis- the people are showing their power via press-gr and other blogs, and the elite is afraid. (some of the scandals that have been plaguing greek political life and media system since last December were indeed published first on press-gr, though in apparently quite noisy ( someone-told-me-they-told-him) form).

In my experience, every time I’ve used such excuses, I tend to be a) less than 16 y.o. at the time or b) really, really ashamed afterwards. I believe press-gr.blogspot.com is severely abusing its anonymity. It publishes all kinds of completely unconfirmed stories from totally unverified sources (including its readers), stories which are frequently cited by mainstream media and politicians as they struggle restlessly for -presumably- ad ratings. This should be noted; While Greek bloggers mostly ignored, or criticised, or even laughed at press-gr, it turns out to have been the blog of choice for anybody who’s anybody in the country. And they are all pissed off.

Thankfully, according to the Eleftheros Typos newspaper, the government has already prepared legislation to deal with the issue of bloggers gone wild. The new law will treat informational(sic) blogs like newspapers. The name of the person legally responsible for the blog’s contents should appear in a visible place. No more anonymity for them informational blog bastards. And if they ruthlessly insist on anonymity, the new law will make it much-much easier for the authorities to obtain a court order for their ISP-related data. Who says our government doesn’t reduce needless bureaucracy, e.g. the need for felony charges in order to lift one’s anonymity? And the media are all super-backing this approach, presenting the blogs like a huge, disgusting, lawless swamp. Interestingly, so did Communist Party MP Liana Kaneli on Monday morning, when on a live appearance in ANT 1 TV channel she accused Wikipedia of “having ruined countless young men’s minds” (I saw it while only 20 minutes awake; it wasn’t a very good way to start my day. It actually made me decide they should only show beautiful young women wearing bikinis at this time of day).

Looks to me like the mainstream is trying to draw public attention away from its recent scandals and blogs are a convenient scapegoat. Few people here understand exactly what it is that a blog does. In fact, I would put my money on the new law being completely bypassable simply by using a wiki instead of a blog. The proposed law reminds me of an older one (also incited by the mainstream media) which forbade video games; I mean all of them. Ridiculous. Nothing but hype. It was approved by the parliament, though. People got their equipment confiscated. Until the hype died away.

On the other hand, it obvious that the Greek political system is not comfortable with the idea of people blogging around uncontrolled. The Greek political system is not comfortable with the idea of freedom of expression, too. The legislation concerning slander, false news propagation and similar media-related crimes is not particularly strict, but the notion of “slander” is usually very broadly interpreted. For instance, if I say a decision taken by a minister is idiotic, I might actually have to prove in a court of law that the minister has IQ<70 (which is the formal definition of idiocity) unless I want to be convicted for slander. Mr. Vasilakis, an anti-nationalist political author and journalist was recently reimbursed by the European Court of Human Rights for having been convicted (although “abused” is a more accurate term) by Greek courts of law under similar circumstances. Also, you cannot say anything against the symbols of the state (”the symbols of the state” including e.g. the undisputable fact that Alexander the Great was straight), and, according to the statement made on TV by the president of the Journalists Guild Panos Sombolos “you cannot say anything against the values of our civilization” (he actually said that as a good thing). Well you can, but someone will definitely sue you, which means you will immediately have your PC confiscated and possibly spend a night or two in jail, until a court two years and 5.000 Euros later finds you not guilty (or possibly guilty as charged). Lots of people in Greece (the majority, I think) believe it is their right to silence disturbing opinions with lawsuits instead of rational counter-arguments. Lots of sacred truths. Lots of unmentionable commonplace secrets. Lots of corruption and hypocrisy. And Greek bloggers just found themselves right in the middle of all that…

Παρατηρήστε τη διατύπωση στη δημοσκόπηση του Ελεύθερου Τύπου.

Συμφωνείτε με τον διά νόμου έλεγχο των blogs ή πρέπει να συνεχίσει η ανεξέλεγκτη λειτουργία τους με τις όποιες συνέπειες;

 Για να σας βοηθήσω, θα το επαναδιατυπώσω με αντίστροφη πόλωση:

Συμφωνείτε τα blogs να δημοσιεύουν μόνο περιεχόμενο της αρεσκείας της κυβέρνησης και των νταβάδων της, ή προτιμάτε να γράφει ο καθένας ελεύθερα; 

Αναρωτιέμαι πόσο δύσκολο είναι να σκεφτεί κανείς ότι ενδεχομένως όλοι αυτοί που περιγράφει ο φίλος Καιρός δεν καθαρίζουν το πεζοδρόμιό τους με το φτυάρι θεωρώντας πως έχουν να ασχοληθούν με σοβαρότερα πράγματα, όπως την επίθεση της παγκοσμιοποίησης στην ιστορία και την ταυτότητά τους, μια επίθεση που σκοπό έχει να αλλοιώσει το χαρακτήρα τους μετατρέποντάς τους στο είδος του παθητικά καταναλωτικού διπόδου που ποτέ δε θα επαιρνε την πρωτοβουλία π.χ. να καθαρίσει το πεζοδρόμιό του με το φτυάρι.