Quixotes we are. With each word you'll see the windmills morph into huge giants and the fight would regain its meaning

Quixotes we are. With each word you'll see the windmills morph into huge giants and the fight would regain its meaning.

Sailing through an angry sea you enter the gates of Barcelona. She is proud. She's defecated. She is alone. She is not the land of Cervantes. But she hosts his tamable buildings on her hills. Red hills of sorrow.

We write Cervantes dreams on each and every page. Pages, once written, turns into birds with silver wings. Like a mirror, the world around them displayed on their furry silver. Wings whisper the words to unbecoming ears. Ears deaf and musical alike. Propagating loneliness. Whispers become waterfalls. Trees root in them. Glorious forever.

Implant the windmills of Mykonos to the heights of Barcelona in your mind. Bring in the music. Bring in shrimps in parsley sauce. Bring all the mermaids of Aegean. Bring in the dance of men. Men who cry us oceans. Let all these be of our words, longing for the fight. The fight of our dreams of youth.

You will see with your mind's eye then. Windmills planted on Barcelona heights will marry Aegean wind. A music will fill your ears. Unspoken before, unheard. It will cry Dulcinea!. When she is heard, the windmills will turn into great giants. Ready to fight your head off. Unto the ground. With full force. Crushing.

Close your eyes. Remind you of my words. For they are the power of your whispers. To win the fight, the whispers we inherited in our bones. To see the sea and be one without shedding a tear. Of sorrow. Of regret.

Close your eyes. Your hair will cover your ears. But. You'll see the sea.

Dear Tamarik,

Today, there is a carpet stuck in my mind. Today is a different day. Today is a different animal.

There are times in one's life, special times where concepts get turned around. You start to look at your own work differently. You start looking at the mirror in a different way. There had been an injection of fresh faith in your perception. Today is such a day.

Dear Tamarik,

Do you ever lie? Have you survived a lie ever? Have you went through a labyrinth of your own, so quick that your own face seemed blurred? Did you embellish that lie so perfectly that it became your reality? Craving about a ghost in your dreams which never existed in your daily life before?

The past always keeps on living near us. It haunts our best days, our worst days alike. It has a way of crumbling our minds. All 'as if's, 'I wish's, 'never mind's, poke around the corner as we hurry for a meeting or eat out lunch or walk a street.

Where are you right now? Really. In that meeting? Or at lunch? Or are you tripping over the clouds like I do? Which clouds I might ask as well. Are there any clouds left for us to trip over? Or there is only the scorching desert sun painting the sky day and night? How about that tree you climbed? A lie, too?

I know there are no lies. Your hump is real. You carry with yourself onehundredtwenty years of pain, alienation and chagrin. I can see it in your eyes. I can see it the way you carry your head when bowing down to pet your cat. Or waiting at that table for someone to enter your hinterland, as you get ready to shoot him an questioning gaze. As you tell fortunes everyday. As if the whole world was a huge cup and our tears were leftover coffee on the insides of this cup. You tell fortunes. As you travel to cities you don't like.

Why don't you like them? Because they lack the forests you crave? Or just because they don't reflect your looks? The looks you expect to come one day, like a shining bright star shooting across the dim sunset sky. There is no such star I'm afraid Dear Tamarik. But you go to them anyways. As you go to places that you know you'll never come back. Like life.

Dreams are made of cotton candy Dear Tamarik. As people chow them in gluttony they become manure. Manure of generations of gluttons are gathered in our door day by day. Our thoughts, our haste, our irrevocable fight is to clean our doorstep. So we can live on our own cotton candy. Dreameaters we are.

You know where I come from. Do you want to see it? Or do you want to curse at it away? Do you know?

Too many questions Dear Tamarik. When we distill our thoughts through the alembic of trial and tribulation we shall see if we can come up with anything but manure. I'm sure among the surest that your thoughts will turn into little birds of hope. Flying to remind us that you were there, you were fine, you were thinking about good things to come. Mine on the other hand, will go, search, find and feed them wherever they can be found.

Because they are and they always will be all we got.

Κωδικός: ‘χαμηλή ένταση’

Έχω περάσει πολύ χρόνο στην Ελλάδα και στα νησιά της, πολύ χρόνο από τη ζωή μου. Έχω δει μέρες από τη Μεταπολίτευση. Υπήρξα μάρτυρας μικρών ή μεγάλων οικονομικών συμφορών. Διάολε, η ιστορία της οικογένειάς μου είναι μια καλή απόδειξη για το πώς οι Έλληνες μπορούν να δημιουργήσουν φασαρίες στους εαυτούς τους.

Στη σύγχρονη εποχή, έχω δει απεργίες και διαδηλώσεις οι οποίες αποτελούν καθημερινά  γεγονότα στη ζωή των Ελλήνων.  Αλλά οι εμπειρίες μου σήμερα 29 Ιουνίου 2010 και μετά τις τελευταίες λίγες ημέρες που πέρασα στην Ελλάδα βρίσκονται σε απόλυτη αντίθεση με το πώς ένιωθα στις επισκέψεις μου τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες.

Πρώτα απ’ όλα πότε αρχίσαμε να μιλάμε χαμηλόφωνα οι Έλληνες; Πότε μάθαμε να σιωπούμε και να θρηνούμε τους εαυτούς μας? Πότε τα μάτια μας άρχισαν να κοιτάζουν το πάτωμα αντί για το γαλάζιο ουρανό; Πότε γίναμε το πιο άφωνο είδος στην Ευρώπη; Όπως έχει συμβεί και με άλλα γεγονότα, φυσικά και υπάρχει κακοφωνία στον τύπο άλλα και γενικά μεταξύ των Ελλήνων για το τι συμβαίνει και πως θα το αντιμετωπίσουμε. Αλλά ο τόνος είναι χαμηλός.  Για τα Ελληνικά δεδομένα είναι ψίθυρος.

Ναι η κατάσταση είναι φρικτή. Μετά τις πρόσφατες αυξήσεις στις τιμές προϊόντων γενικής χρήσης και του ΦΠΑ, όλες οι τιμές αυξάνονται καθημερινά. Χθες βράδυ φάγαμε σε ένα εστιατόριο που συχνάζουμε στο Μικρολίμανο. Από την τελευταία επίσκεψη λίγους μήνες πριν, οι τιμές έχουν αυξηθεί τουλάχιστον κατά 20%. Και αυτό είναι υπερβολικό για ένα ήδη ακριβό εστιατόριο για τα Ελληνικά δεδομένα. (Κατά την ταπεινή μου άποψη το Ελληνικό γεύμα έχει την καλύτερη σχέση ποιότητας – τιμής στην Ευρώπη).

Επίσης τη φετινή περίοδο έντονης  τουριστική κίνησης κάποιες εκπλήξεις περιμένουν τους τουρίστες. Δημοφιλείς προορισμοί όπως η Μύκονος έχουν εξωφρενικές τιμές διαμονής για τον Ιούλιο και τον Αύγουστο. Όλοι περιμένουν να ωφεληθούν από τις αναμενόμενες αυξήσεις στις τιμές. (Μια πανσιόν στη Χώρα στην οποία μπορεί να μείνει κανείς με 40 ευρώ σήμερα, κοστίζει 150 ευρώ μετά τις 15 Ιουλίου.) Και οι τιμές των πτήσεων εσωτερικού δε βοηθούν ιδιαίτερα. 

Το πρόβλημα με την αντίληψη των Ελλήνων είναι ότι δύσκολα αλλάζουν τις καθημερινές τους συνήθειες. Για τους περισσότερους από αυτούς οι καθημερινή εργασία είναι κάτι που πρέπει να κάνουν για να επιβιώσουν, αλλά είναι καλύτερα αν δουλεύουν λιγότερο όταν δεν τους βλέπει κανείς. Από την παραπάνω γενίκευση θα πρέπει να εξαιρέσουμε τους τομείς τουρισμού και ψυχαγωγίας  και από την εξαίρεση αυτή προκύπτουν συμπεράσματα για την κατάσταση που επικρατεί. Όμως τώρα που κερδίζουν λιγότερα συγκριτικά με τα προηγούμενα χρόνια, θα πρέπει να ξεκινήσουν δεύτερη δουλειά ή να εγκαταλείψουν τον πλούσιο τρόπο ζωής τους (το οποίο σημαίνει να μην αλλάζουν BMW κάθε δύο χρόνια, να μην πουλούν κάποια από τα πολλά ακίνητά τους ή να μην περνάνε κάθε βράδυ μη εργάσιμης μέρας ξοδεύοντας 150 ευρώ για ένα μπουκάλι συνηθισμένο Whisky σε συνηθισμένα μπουζούκια, και να ελαττώσουν σημαντικά τον αριθμό των ερωμένων τους).

Πολλοί ‘οικονομικοί οίκοι’ συμβουλεύουν την Ελλάδα να παρατείνει την ηλικία συνταξιοδότησης και να αναδιαρθρώσει το συνταξιοδοτικό της σύστημα για να εξισορροπήσει το εξωτερικό χρέος.  Η αντίθετη πραγματικότητα που δε φαίνεται να κατανοούν όσοι βγάζουν εύκολα συμπεράσματα είναι το γεγονός ότι η Ελλάδα βρίσκεται σε μια βαθιά αποξενωμένη κοινωνική κατάσταση. Και τα οικονομικά προβλήματα οφείλονται σε άλλες αιτίες. Η διαφθορά στην εκμετάλλευσης των πόρων της ειδικά όσων προέρχονται από την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση και η υπερβολική φορολογία της εργατικής της δύναμης ώστε να αναμορφωθούν τα έξοδα της πολιτείας είναι οι πραγματικοί εχθροί  ενάντια στη σωτηρία.

Καθώς νέες απεργίες και διαδηλώσεις προγραμματίζονται κάθε δέκα μέρες πλέον, το κοινό γενικά φαίνεται να μη γνωρίζει την επικείμενη μοίρα του. Συγκεντρώνονται μόνο στο να κάνουν σχέδια για τις καλοκαιρινές τους διακοπές.

Ο βασικός συντελεστής για την Ελληνική οικονομία το 2010 θα είναι η τύχη της τουριστικής σεζόν. Στην επόμενη απεργία στις 8 Ιουλίου θα συμμετέχουν για μια ακόμη φορά οι λιμενεργάτες του Πειραιά οι οποίοι θα σταματήσουν τη θαλάσσια κίνηση στην Ελλάδα για μια ακόμη μέρα. Έτσι οι επιβάτες θα υποχρεωθούν σε άλλες 48 άχρηστες ώρες στα ελληνικά νησιά όπου ο καθένας θα πρέπει να περάσει μία ακόμη μη προγραμματισμένη μέρα περιπλανώμενος και βρίζοντας το κατεστημένο. Μεγάλες εταιρείες κρουαζιέρας έχουν ήδη στείλει τελεσίγραφο, μετά την προηγούμενη απεργία της 29^ης Ιουνίου, ότι θα διακόψουν τις επισκέψεις τους στην Αθήνα αν συνεχιστούν οι απεργίες.

Έτσι, αν τα πρόσφατα δημοσιονομικά δεδομένα είναι ακριβή και η Ελλάδα έχει ήδη χάσει το 8% του ετήσιου τουριστικού εισοδήματος, τότε μάλλον θα είναι σε πολύ χειρότερη κατάσταση μέχρι το τέλος του χρόνου από ότι είχε προβλεφτεί τον περασμένο Μάιο.

Η παγκόσμια οικονομική κρίση μειώνει την όρεξη των αναμενόμενων επισκεπτών γεγονός το οποίο αν συνδυαστεί με την απληστία των Ελλήνων ιδιοκτητών που χρεώνουν περισσότερο, ίσως τελικά σκοτώσει τη μοναδική κότα που γεννά ακόμη χρυσά αυγά στην Ελλάδα. Και τότε δε θα υπάρχει τίποτα…

Social Media in Turkey: A New Power to the People or Self-Indulgence

For a few years now, Facebook is a popular hangout for many in Turkey. 84% of all Internet users have an account on Facebook says a report by ComScore. That puts the country on the third place for Facebook users Internationally. Although Internet penetration is still low at a 34% of the population, the vast population and the rate of increase on access in Turkey makes it an emerging power in social media.

The question is why Turks use social media? There is no relevant data but I will elaborate on my personal experience on that. First some data that could help shed some light on my observations. Bear in mind that Turkey's population is very young as compared to many developed nation.

38% of all Internet users in Turkey are between the ages of 15 and 24. Another 31% is between 25 and 34. We can comfortably say that 69% of Internet users in Turkey are young people. Turks spend and average of 29,7 hours per month online and that is only third worldwide after Canada and the U.S.

What do they do online? I have made a small research on Facebook. I have sampled all my contacts in Turkey (150+) and selected another 150 from their contacts. Out of this 300, 52% said on their info that they are looking for a relationship. 78% said their reason for being on Facebook is friendship. Only 17% said networking. (The percentages will not add up since people can give more than one reason for their online existence)

I have also went through the timelines and follower lists of my 400+ Twitter followers. 65% of the followers are from the opposite sex if you are a Turkish woman on Twitter. On my follower list biggest nationality groups are Americans, British and Dutch. I surveyed their followers and followers of their followers. The average rate is 55% for opposite sex followers in non-Turkish groups. Online flirting is very common in both groups, but unfortunately there was no way of distinguishing the unfollow rate due to unsolicited flirting or more obscene behavior.

As I might easily deduct that Facebook is more a meeting place for lonely hearts in Turkey, my analysis using online tools like Twitter Analyzer shows that (at least in my own environment) primary subjects are more social than individual. Many NGO's and political parties as well as government branches are using Twitter to create public opinion. This leads me to think that we should examine Twitter as a unique social media platform in contrast to ties competitors like Facebook, My Space and others. Turks tend to use Facebook, My Space. Turkish Mynet, Netlog, and Kalpkalbe in that order according to ComScore report. But surely Twitter is a rising star lately.
Deriving from my experience we can examine Turkish/related to Turkey tweeps in 4 groups;

1. News and op/ed bunch: Journalists, writers, NGO reps and so on...
2. Celebs of many kinds. I include most Turkish journalists in this group.
3. The mass majority
4. The attackers

Op/Ed Bunch

This is what I call the "real" twitter bunch. Maybe that's because I seem to belong to that group and their tweets enlightens me and very productive for me. It contains mostly International journalists, writers from all walks of life and some professors. This group is the most tolerant to opposing views and eager to correct any mistake and provide positive criticism. Helping each other in times of need on any subject is another characteristic of this group.
The members of this group also provide a very interesting insight to the present and the future of social media. Especially during the recent flotilla sent by a Turkish aid organization to Gaza, live reports on board became the only communication from the ships due to media blockage of Israeli Defense Forces. In my opinion future regional events would put social media into a more prominent position as far as news publishing and opinion casting are concerned. Already local traditional media is feeding from Twitter on a daily basis.

Celebs

This group is the code of anti-twitter. They are so self-indulgent that they continuously forget the fact that their followers (or people at large) is the one source they feed on. The general ignorance of Turkish celebrities is subject for another article. Here I'd only point out the newspaper columnists and alike on Twitter. This bunch, full of their ego filled by astronomical salaries paid by ever-competing media barons to survive in a country where almost no one reads a newspaper basically bullshit everyday, torment their followers and only talk about inter-celebrity gossip. They pride in how many followers they block everyday and call them names I'd not be able to repeat here.
I have witnessed even a TV talkshow presenter asking for questions to be forwarded to his guest two hours before the show on Twitter. And during his show which lasted over one and a half hours ended up ignoring all questions asked online. One problem is they know how shallow and overfed they are. In a way Twitter has become their revenge from the society which makes fun of them and torrents them in every opportunity. Also Twitter has proven that this group is totally language illiterate. When you insult them in, say, English they just ignore the tweet. But when you criticize even lightly in Turkish they immediately slam you with a block. I think they are a sorry bunch, yet represent the society's approach to things they couldn't grasp.

Masses

Of course this group contains many sub-categories. Most are upper-level income groups. Self-proclaimed intellectuals. Penetration of social media into various low income, low culture groups in Turkey is yet to come.
But herein lies the real power of social media. There is great talent in this bunch. Many books can be published just by following these young talents. They feel free to mess with the literary rules, grammar and everything related to traditional approach to writing. These gems usually have blogs that I frequent a lot and learn more than anyone can imagine possible. They are fluent in many languages and follow a variety of opinion as well as artistic tendencies.
Another group is the "protesters". They attract attention to many social and political woes of Turkey. Human Rights, nature, etc. organizations and many opinionated individuals fills that group. In some special days, these groups turn into think-tanks and come up with great and innovative ideas to change public opinion. In others, they may become stubborn idiosyncrasies of ideology. A recent protest against Turkish Prime Minister trended as #NoTayyip became a social phenomenon. Many new accounts created just to join this campaign in fears of public prosecution.
The followers of this campaign, sometimes pressuring their peers to contribute aimed at trending the hashtag of NoTayyip worldwide. Although unsuccessful on that front the campaign made the news nationwide and started a twitter-wide discussion about the success or failure of the current government in Turkey.

Attackers

And the last but not the least of twitter personalities in Turkey is a group I'd call attackers. These are generally ultra-nationalists, not a minority in Turkey, who get accounts just to attack a few targeted individuals and then get banned by Twitter until they renew their attacks under a different name. They also send nationalist propaganda tweets as to how Turks are superior to every nation and how Turkey is threatened by foreign powers and such in a very offensive language.
The interesting fact about this group is how often their tweets get retweeted by ordinary people when they show up in keyword searches. They seem to act like an outspoken voice of public in large. They voice the subconscious fears and thoughts of the average Turk injected by a very biased and nationalistic educational system.
In short social media crowd in Turkey is young, progressive and active, yet still bound by the limits of a very traditional and closed-up society. When you follow their wisdom, sometimes the truth loses its meaning under a curtain of perceived facts replacing crude reality.


The hope of social media as a form of enlightenment lures in the horizon though. Internet users in Turkey increase exponentially each year. And as the penetration and pure number of people utilizing it would increase, the power of new media will be felt throughout the deepest corners of Turkish society. And I'm hoping among hopes that a new generation of well-versed young professionals would replace the supporters of status-quo in the media in the near future. They will be the golden key for Turkey to introduce its assets to the civilized world.

'Subdued' is The Key

I have spent plenty of time in Greece and her islands in my life. I have seen post Junta days. I have witnessed small or large economical woes. Heck, my family history is a good proof to how Greeks can put themselves into trouble.

In modern times, I have seen many strikes and public demonstrations that are a simple fact of Greek life. But my experiences today, June 29th, 2010 and last few days I spent in Greece are in total contrast to how I felt during my visits of the last few decades.

First of all when on earth us Greeks started to talk low-key? When did we learn to shut up and mourn for ourselves? When our eyes started to gaze at our toes instead of blue skies? When did we become the most muted animals in Europe? As in many other events, of course there is a cacophony in the press and among Greeks in general about what is happening and what to do with that. But the tone is hushed. Everybody basically whispers in Greek standards.

Yes, the situation is dire. After the recent increases in utility prices and the VAT, all prices are increasing everyday. Last night we ate at a restaurant we frequent in Mikrolimani. From the last visit a few months ago prices have gone up at least 20%. And that was too much for an already expensive restaurant especially in Greek standards. (In my humble opinion Greek dining has the best value on price in Europe)


Also this high season, some surprises are awaiting the usual tourist bunch. Popular places like Mykonos have outrageous bed prices set out for July and August. Everybody is getting in line to benefit from the expected hikes in prices. (A pension in Mykonos town in which you can bed for 40 Euros tonight is asking for 150 Euros after July 15th.) And domestic flight prices don't help either.

The problem with the perception of Greeks is that, they can hardly change their daily habits. For most of them daily work is something they have to do to survive, but its better if they can do less without anyone noticing it. To give credit to where it's due we need to exclude tourism and entertainment industries from this generalization, which in itself gives us clues for the situation. But now they earn less comparatively, they either will revert to secondary jobs or will have to give up the lush lifestyles (which means not changing their BMW's every two years, selling some of their abundant number of real estate or not spending every non-workday evening spending 150 Euros on third class bottle of whiskey at a third class bouzoukia, and even reducing number of mistresses by a substantial number).

Many fiscal 'authorities' are giving advice to Greece to extend the age of retirement and reform the pension system to balance her foreign debt. The contrasting reality which these speakeasy people don't seem to realize is the fact that Greece is in a very deeply uprooted social state. And her economical problems lay elsewhere. Corruption on the utilization of resources especially coming from EU and overtaxation of its work force to rehabilitate the state expenditures are the real foes irking against the bsalvation.

As new strikes and protests are scheduled for every ten days now, the public in general seem not to be aware of the imminent fate. They are concentrated on making their summer plans.

The key factor in 2010 for Greek economy will be the fate of tourism season. Next strike on July 8th will once more include the harbor workers at Peireas which in turn will stop sea traffic in Greece for another day. Which in turn will render another 48 hours useless in most of the Greek islands where everybody will be stuck to spend another unplanned day wandering around and cursing the establishment. Large cruise companies have already sent their ultimatum that they will cut their visits to Athens if that happens again after the previous June 29 strike.

So, if the recent fiscal data is correct and if Greece has already lost 8% of her tourism income this year already, she might end the year in a worse situation as far as the fiscal numbers go, than these were reflecting in past May.

Global economic crisis lowering the appetite of prospective visitors, coupled with the greediness of Greek establishment owners to charge more might finally kill one chicken who still lays golden eggs for Greece. And then, there would be none...