StopCartel TV broadcasts live from Athens, Greece weeknights @ 6 pm Athens time. The following post is a loose transcript of the 8 August 2012 broadcast.
By greydogg and snake arbusto, 99GetSmart
- As the economic situation in Greece continues to worsen, reports indicate that hospitals and care centers throughout the nation are running completely out of medicines, and many healthcare workers are now voluntarily providing care services without pay.
On Tuesday morning, the mainstream media was on location at a central hospital in Athens to report on how the crisis is affecting the country’s hospitals.
Doctors, nursing staff, and administrative personnel stated that the lack of medical personnel at the nation’s hospitals has made it impossible to function properly. The hospital staff who remain at their jobs have gone unpaid by the state for months.
The President of the Hospital Workers was on the scene, but as an ironic twist, he was acting as a government-of-the-regime representative. He stated that he was under the impression that the Minister of Health would be there to begin a dialogue and expressed his regrets that this was not the case. Stunningly, he admitted that he receives his information about the problems in the hospital from the mainstream media!
He repeatedly lied to reporters, saying that the government is trying to sort out problems that have existed for years with experimental solutions. He did not elaborate on what those ‘experimental’ solutions were. He also said that it is not clear what sort of health system is wanted in Greece. He continued to dismiss the obvious truth by stating that local hospitals are serving the needs of the people of Athens, but conceded that there is an ongoing battle with the outpatient clinic.
The reporter asks if him if this problem exists due to the lack of personnel. Again, his reply was less than honest, stating that the health system does not function properly due to the lack of a good healthcare system outside Athens. Patients flock to Athens to be treated, he said. While that may have been true many years ago, it is not true now. The country’s hospitals were working very well until the crisis hit.
A doctor on the scene also expressed his disagreement and stated that there is a critical lack of personnel, causing a crisis in hospitals around the nation. He explained that the government has cut hospital staff by 35% and that the remaining staff have not been paid by the state for several months.
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- This summer, wildfires are raging in several parts of the country. Two factors that are favoring the fires are the extremely high temperatures and the strong winds blowing across Greece.
On Wednesday, a huge fire raged through a forested area in Arcadia, located in the central Peloponnese. Members of the military were asked to join forces with the fire brigade to assist in the efforts to extinguish the roaring blaze.
From Greek Reporter:
In Arcadia, 135 firefighters were trying to extinguish the fire while 59 fire trucks, assisted by volunteers, were struggling to contain the blaze on the ground. The day before, six people were injured and four villages – Routsi, Voutsaras, Kamaritsa and Soulari – were evacuated.
Other firefighters have been sent to another front, in the Aghia Marina area in Koropi, Attica. Almost 30 firefighters along with 10 fire trucks and one water-dropping plane were trying to protect houses from burning.
Another fire broke out in Korinthia region, close to Solomos village. Some 26 firefighters, 12 fire trucks and three water-dropping planes headed to the pine forest of Solomos to try to control it. A smaller front broke out in the Kardamena area on Kos, with 14 firefighters and two fire trucks and two aircraft dropping water.
In the Pikermi region, about 30 firefighters were sent after a fire broke out in the area. According to the fire brigade, the front in the Damassi area in Larissa has been brought under control while others in Magnesia prefecture, Kythera island and Crete’s Ierapetra were brought partly under control as well.
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- On Wednesday, Der Spiegel published an article entitled, “Europe’s 10 Most Dangerous Politicians.” SYRIZA leader Alexis Tspiras is number 2 on that list.
From Der Spiegel:
Alexis Tsipras, the leader of Greece’s leftist Syriza party: In his latest proposal, Tsipras argues the Greek government should refuse to talk to the so-called Troika comprised of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. He wants to “criminalize” the privatization of public enterprises. He has been labelled the “most dangerous man in Europe” since he became leader of the radical Left and has been pressuring successive governments to abandon austerity measures that underpin Greece’s continued access to international aid. What’s his goal? Tsipras is banking on the fact that the euro treaties don’t permit a country to be evicted from the euro zone — so he has opted for uncompromising opposition.
Tsipras, Der Spiegel says “[…] has been named ‘the most dangerous man in Europe’ because he leads Greece’s radical left which is always after the government, believing that no one can oust Greece from the euro.”
Giorgos Kosmopoulos from StopCartel TV published an immediate response, arguing that Der Spiegel’s characterization of Tsipras is a title of honor.
Later in the day, SYRIZA released an official statement mirroring Mr. Kosmopoulos’s sentiments, saying that it is an honor for Mr. Tsipras to be called the most dangerous politician in Europe because the slander comes from the very criminals who have manufactured this global economic crisis and who are responsible for the current humanitarian crisis and deep despair in Greece.
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- Peter Bofinger, a German economist and consultant to the German government, stated that the danger of the dissolution of the Euro zone increases daily.
The European International media continues to threaten the Greek people by its daily reports about Greece exiting the Euro zone. The threats only serve to increase the resolve of the Greek people to resist.
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- A statement made by the representatives of medium-sized companies in Greece says that the consequence of the 11.6 billions in austerity cuts will have an adverse effect on their sector. As a result, many more workers will lose their jobs, adding to already skyrocketing unemployment numbers.
Ironically, these very same companies supported the government-of-the-regime… until they were personally affected by the brutal austerity measures being imposed. No one is immune to the catastrophic consequences of disaster capitalism.
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STRIKES!
- The Greek Teachers Union announced that it will hold a General Strike on 12 September 2012.
- The Public Service Union of Greece is threatening a General Strike if the government-of-the-regime goes forward with the new austerity measures.
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- In yet another despicable move
… the Greek government is cutting the funding that supports nurseries and kindergartens for 53,000 babies and toddlers in Athens. This is going to cause a tremendous social problem for working parents.
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Information is the backbone of the effort to liberate ourselves, not just in Greece or Europe, but the whole world. Independent media is an important conduit of unfiltered information. We must build and support a network of information in order to succeed.
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StopCartel TV broadcasts live from Athens, Greece on weeknights at 6pm Athens time @ http://www.livestream.com/stopcarteltvgr
