With the opening of the new Acropolis Museum, Greece has stepped up its efforts in the campaign to return the Parthenon Marbles – and rightly so. Following a visit four years ago to the British Museum, and viewing these artifacts and reading notes of “the head is on display in Athens,” or “the hands are on display in Austria,” really lit my fuse. To me, separating them in that manner was like dismembering a body. Sacrilege! The time is long overdue to bring these treasures back to their rightful home.

For years, the British contended that…

The township of Tom Price was full of interesting characters with different motivations. Some were there simply for the money, while others were trying to disappear from a former life.

Pissy was a vet from WWII who survived 90-something missions as a navigator on a Lancaster bomber. He carried plenty of scars from shrapnel suffered when taking over the rear gunner’s position on those dark nights over Germany. That was a tale in its own right, but the task also required him to remove whatever was left of the gunner before he took over the position.…

Swine flu – it’s all the papers and the radio are full of at the moment. Apparently our government is ‘fully prepared’ for the outbreak, which as anyone who has lived here for any length of time can tell you, is government speak for, “We’re completely f*cked”. Since apparently most people in the world are going to die from pig flu, because unlike bird flu, you don’t actually have to sleep with a chicken over a prolonged period in order to catch it, I thought I’d better be ready for whatever might happen. So, I sat down to…

In an unusual turn of events for Australia, and more than likely as a measure of relief felt around the country, the inauguration of Barack Obama was telecast on several television stations, which indicated that the expectations in Oz are easily as high as those of his fans in the States.

After an initial acceptance of George W. Bush in his first term, (an acceptance that goes with the job by default), the general perception was very negative towards him, even before the end of his first…

The day after the US gives itself a fine clean sheet by swearing in a brand, shiny, new president, British politics follows by…..offering us a new candidate for “Wanker of the Week.”

How marvellous. We are so proud. Below, for your viewing pleasure, is BBC News coverage of protesters who have taken residence on the roof of Harriet Harmon’s home, in protest of some of her actions and policies:

Yes, this week’s Wanker comes in the sternly-suited form of our helmet-haired leader of the Read the full article »

On December 27, 2008, shortly before noon, Israel launched a military campaign against Gaza called, ‘Operation Cast Lead. It began with air and missile strikes against various Hamas targets. Israel’s Air Force is the fourth largest in the world. The stated objective of this campaign was to stop Hamas from carrying out further rocket attacks upon Israel by targeting Hamas militants and key members in Gaza. On the evening of January 3, Israel launched its ground invasion as the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) poured into northern Gaza City with tanks and gunships.

Sometimes, I think we…

It’s easy to forget. We open our memory’s garbage bin and in we throw all our bad experiences and sad memories. When it comes to personal affairs, this practice is acceptable. But when it involves bits and pieces of a nation’s collective memory, it can cost us our wellbeing and social solidarity.

Amongst we Greeks, there is a common belief regarding time; for some events, which have to do with our country’s history of politics, economy and society, we retain the memory capacity of goldfish. Something new takes place, we’ll process it for five seconds and…

Greece has always played a starring role in the history of human migration. Depending on whatever socioeconomic and political conditions exist, Greece’s population has provided some valuable examples in regards to the incentives behind immigration and emigration. These are widely known as “push factors” (reasons to emigrate), and “pull factors” (reasons to immigrate).

According to the mainstream human migration theory, the aforementioned factors are categorized into four groups: environmental (natural disaster), political (war, dictatorship), economic (poverty, lack of employment opportunity, low wages) and cultural (barriers to education, religious persecution). In Greece, both economic and political push…

News Flash – The island of Lesbos has taken exception to “lesbians,” or as the spokesperson gently put it, “certain ladies who have no connection whatsoever with Lesbos,” using the term “lesbian.”

As he so aptly stated, “My sister can’t say she is a Lesbian.”

I note he forgot to add the Australian (and Jerry Seinfeld) politically correct – “Not that there is anything wrong with that.”

I wonder where these folk have been. The term ‘lesbian’ goes back eons.  It seems to be the sort of legal action one would normally…

Five years after “Mission Accomplished,” I still marvel at how Americans feel it is their “right” to interfere in the politics of other countries. And not just Iraq. A number of smaller countries have been subjected to their interference. It seems that if a politician can drum up a case of national security, they automatically get the majority of their citizens on side.

How is this possible?

I can’t tell if they think it’s un-American to challenge their leaders, or if they are simply too lazy to think through the logic. In Australia’s case,…