"Bitter Bitter Scott McClellan! Where were you when the rest of the world was shouting what you NOW decided to support and write about it? What did you do when the media of the rest of the world were showing pictures and videos of green bags filled with soulless bodies left in the desert? Oh, I remember what you were doing! You were staging publicity stunts that showed how successful the war was. You and the rest of the gang were giving orders how to direct the fall of Saddam's statue in Baghdad so that the American people could believe that the Iraqis were really happy.
You and your team aren't the ones who used Fox Channel for your political propaganda during the War? Were you a part of it?

I just wish people like McClellan could recognize their responsibilities and move forward. Or, if they want to harm the Bush administration by any means, they should write a book about the real causes of the War. Enough with the lies."

McClellan: Bush misled U.S. on Iraq - Washington Post- msnbc.com

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24848910/

Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan writes in a new memoir that the Iraq war was sold to the American people with a sophisticated "political propaganda campaign" led by President Bush and aimed at "manipulating sources of public opinion" and "downplaying the major reason for going to war."

"This kind of news make my stomach sick. It was the first time I felt nautious by watching the news. The people who are supposed to bring hope in these regions are the same who deprive her."

Report: Sex abuse by aid workers widespread - United Nations- msnbc.com

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24838344/

LONDON - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed "deep concern" Tuesday after a leading children's charity said it uncovered evidence of widespread sexual abuse of children at the hands of U.N. peacekeepers and international aid workers.

Parents hear Afghan battle on voice mail - Conflict in Iraq- msnbc.com

http://www.msnbc....

•Scary voicemail from Afghan gunbattleMay 6: Contessa Brewer reports on the Oregon couple's fear upon receiving an accidental voice mail message from their son in the midst of a firefight in Afghanistan.MSNBC

This news piece really caught my attention today. When we want to talk about the War On Terrorism, we usually forget about some side-effects and this incident is surely a non-intended one.

Mum and Dad return to their home, they check their voice-mailbox and Boom! they are in the battlefield.

I can't even imagine their horror. Listening to the gun shots and explosions for three minutes. Sometimes, we neglect that these soldiers have families, parents and loved ones who every day hope that their sons will return safe. When the War started, someone could kind of easily justify it, but now I don't see the point anymore. It's a vicious circle and if the Democrats win the next elections, it will be the vanity fair Republicans have to pay.

I support the Obama candidacy, but I have the feeling that Clinton could do better in the elections. From what I have read, Clinton is more favored by the citizens compared to Obama who has more super-delegates. It's really a hard choice that the Democrats' supporters have to make. Yet, I have a question: Will the Democratic Party sustain its cohesion after The presidential candidate is elected? Will Obama's supportes vote for Clinton? Will Clinton's supporters vote for Obama?

Few months ago, the Greek Socialist Politcal Party (PASOK) members and supportes elected the new President of the party among three candidates. When George Papandreou was re-elected as the leader of the party, the supporters of the other two candidates were kind of "turned off". I wouldn't like to see this happening in the Democratic Party.

Some of you might ask why I am so worried about these elections. Well, the answer is not that hard. The US are the primary political and economic force in the world. What happens there affect the rest of us, since our First-civilized- world is networked through many factors.  We need to understand that every part of state politics define not only our daily life but also our future. For me, the US need to reinvent their foreign affairs agenda. No matter how many troops they have in the Middle East, the people in that region will never adopt our idea of democracy and civil rights. They have centuries old traditions and laws that they respect and follow.

What happened to the "public diplomacy" idea? Can the American society afford another war? Can the world? 

Gossip Girl filming at the New York Palace

Hello my fellow Voxers,

I know it's been a while and now that I am back to Greece, I will be writing as often as I can! Last time, I promised a Gossip Girl post and here it is!

While I was in New York, I was trend-spotting with my friends. One TV show made the top of the list: Gossip Girl, the most must-see teen drama in television nowadays. How the story has evolved so far surpasses every previous experience. Suddenly, shows like The O.C. and One Tree Hill seem so last century. Gossip Girl has taken television one step ahead and I was really satisfied to read a great article about this show in New York Magazine.

After watching last night's episode, I can tell you that Gossip Girl is going extreme. How often do we see a 15 year-old boy being outed or a 17 year-old confessing to her best friend that she killed somebody in the past? For some, the plot might be too much, but don't forget Gossip Girl is a successful book series transferred in television. It has to be edgy and steamy in order to win fans all over again.

By conventional means, Gossip Girl is not a successful TV show. But when you add up iTunes downloads and multiple websites that host the episodes for the rest of the world, you might change your opinion. There are many who consider Gossip Girl a cultural phenomenon. Why? Because, from what I have personally experienced, this show haves a great impact on music, fashion and society. Just take a walk on Upper East Side. You will see kids dressed in their school uniform talking and behaving like our heroes. What started as an inspiration for the book series and show, it is now deeply affected by these media products.

What attracts me the most in this show is the use of technology. These kids are really tech-literate in a way never seen before in a teen drama. With a blog as the core value of the show, our heroes use high-end cell phones, computers and gadgetry every day. I also noticed another thing: product placement. The Humphreys who are a creative family use Apple computers, while the families in the Upper East use Windows-based Dell laptops. Last month, I read online a report about computer users. It is said that people who use Mac products tend to be more creative (ha! I am a Mac user!)

Nevertheless, the real juice of the show is in characters and cliques. In every educational institution you can find these stereotypes: the Queen Bee, the socialites, the wannabes, the good guys, the bad girls, the bitches, the party boys, the sports guys, the popular and outcast kids. From my experience, school society is really hard. Our school years define what we will become in the future. I know kids from school who were really unpopular becoming really successful and happy. Their school experience provided them with the strongest ammo to fight back. Besides poetic license, Gossip Girl characters are the real thing.  

A very good friend of mine in NY said that Gossip Girl has become such a success because, deep down, we all fall for the Gossip thing. Perez Hilton enjoys millions of visitors daily, while publications like People, Star and InTouch battle each other for The exclusice cover every week. In the meantime, the cast tastes a sip of their own remedy. People roam New York City just ot spot them and report to their blog or favorite gossip column. A few months ago, a social group made its appereance in Hi5, a large social networking site, dedicated to gossip in Glyfada. It brought a lot of drama in our life. We were all spotted! I even had my moments of "stardom", drunk. Anyway, Gossip Girl is still in Season 1 and they have a lot of stories to tell in the future. It will be hard, though, to maintain the buzz, especially after last night. We got spoiled! Now, I need fireworks for next week! I need explosions! I think I am going to leave it to Georgina Sparks!

OMG, I have to leave you. I spotted someone.

XOXO

Hello my fellow Voxers,

Keeping an eye on current affairs around the globe is a really time consuming task and working as a columnist makes it even harder. I need a constant flow of information and I need it now! When I saw this widget by MSNBC, I was captivated! I think it has to do with the colors!

Another article by the Greek Foreign Minister, Mrs. Dora Bakoyannis. I can't remember any other Greek politician with such an international press presence. Even though, I don't support the New Democracy political party, I have to give her some credit. I also like the fact that her team has a strong social media strategy. She has an account for Twitter, from where her staff informs us about her daily schedule, where she goes, to whom she to talks, etc., an account in Flickr with her photos, a group in Facebook and a YouTube profile with her videos. In her personal website, she has a "citizen corner", where all Greek citizens can send her their thoughts and discuss about current affairs.

All in a Name - WSJ.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB12070...

ATHENS -- The NATO summit comes to Southeastern Europe this week, and Greece is looking forward to it. The choice of Bucharest as the summit's host holds stark symbolism. Romania, having joined, alongside Bulgaria, the trans-Atlantic alliance in 2004 and the European Union last year, is a clear success story for our neighborhood.

The past weeks, the diplomatic incidents between FYROM and Greece have stirred major controversies among the world. Recently, the Greek government vetoed the inclusion of FYROM in NATO. In the article below, Dora Bakoyannis, the Greek Foreign Affairs Minister, explains the reasons and writes about the Greek position on this matter. Enjoy!

The view from Athens - International Herald Tribune

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/3...

Members of NATO are set to meet Wednesday in Bucharest to consider measures to strengthen the alliance, which may include invitations to three Balkan countries -Albania, Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) - to join the trans-Atlantic family.

6 comments

As I was reading the Sunday papers, again, I came across an article on the Media section regarding the new blogging law that the Greek state wants to adopt.

According to this article, the Greek Ministry of Justice is drafting a new law for all Greek bloggers, which will not have any relationship with the first draft that was published a few weeks ago.This new law will not offend the right to anonymity in blogs, but it will facilitate the procedures of revealing a blogger's identity.

This new law will give the authority to whoever feels offended by a blog post to report the incident to the Greek Department of Electronic Crime Indictment (part of Greek Police Authorities) and demand the revelation of the blogger's identity in order to prosecute the latter according to the law.

According to sources from the Ministry, the government doesn't want, for the time being, to add clauses that will characterize blogs as information media and force the blogs' owners to post their true identities, while the law will continue to conceive the offense towards a person as a misdemeanor and not as a felony. 

If the Greek parliament enacts this new law, it will be the first blogging law worldwide and it will bring many technical and ethical issues under the spotlight. One major issue that wasn't addressed in the article is the needed infrastructure for this law, as Vrypan (leading Greek blogger) states. The companies that give access to the Web don't usually hold personal data. Will this change? Will they have to keep a log of our personal web communications? Will our privacy be threatened?

I know that there are laws against defamation, but, from my point of view, the persecution of a blogger goes way beyond. Blogs started as a free medium of communicating our views and ideas without discrimination and they have nothing to do with organized media companies. I know I have a blog because I want to share my opinions on current affairs and personal issues with the rest of the world.I try to not swear a lot due to my personal values and not because there is a law. Yet, how could I know if my criticism on public figures is considered a misdemeanor? Do I have to discriminate my personal thoughts?

I support the idea of internet regulations to some extent, especially on issues that have to do with children pornography and economic frauds,but I don't support the idea of the government judging my thoughts. I am not a journalist, but I am an active citizen with strong opinions on political and social issues. And frankly, I don't like the idea of "Big Brother".

If they start discriminating our writings, what will be next? Our photos and videos? The Web, so far, has proved that is self-regulated, meaning that people who contribute to it, like you and me, are the same who protect it and the  "social web" trend is making this effort more easy.  The core of the Internet lies in the sharing of unbiased information among people and a strict regulation will only harm it.

I have the feeling that a new social movement is about to rise in Greece and this time to protect something very important, our very own freedom of speech. People who defame other people will always exist. Just because a government can wipe out their existence in the digital world doesn't mean that they will cease to exist. They will always be here and the Web community has shown that when these people go far, we can "regulate" them!