The target of hatred and discrimination is subjective and sometimes even just invented or imagined.
So: YOU think that an Arab gay is a subjective and hateful person, who invented an imaginary enemy that wants to kill him, just because he (the Arab gay) wants to discriminate against them (the Arab Muslims)...
Personaly I find the best tactic is to not do what my enemies want me to do.
Personaly I find the best tactic is to not do what my SMART enemies want me to do - but in this case the enemy is Muslims (terrorism is the ONLY thing they know to do - and i am not easily terrorized!).
So? The bad people are everywhere, every goddamn "race" has them in probably exactly equal numbers because "races", just like borders, are imaginary. In Lousiana an entire parish has been refusing to marry anyone for months now, because they don't want LGBT weddings. The only reason they aren't burning people (any more: see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... ) is because of the pacifying effect of the US's relative affluence (which in turn only due to the recent conquest of this land's natural resources). It's Christians in Africa who are executing men for being gay. There is no more violence in Muslim countries than you could predict by looking at their economies (which we shape with our imperialistic might) and noting the statistical correlation between poverty and violence.
So: YOU think that a Greek Christian like me is the same as an Arab Muslim... but Arab GAYS may disagree!
The information you take in shapes your opinions and the priorities you set. Living in Greece, only a few hundred miles away from these atrocities and presumably being a Christian - one of the groups targeted by these atrocities - one could see how keeping tabs on the actions of these people would have some personal interest to our Greek Nationalist compatriot.
I just read you comment (that answers perfectly on my behalf), i agree with everything you write, especially with the above paragraph - i don't watch Muslims' violence out of pleasure, i am glad that you can understand that some other reason may exist for a Greek Nationalist like me, BUT, unfortunately, people like YOU (who still try to keep the Western Civilization safe) is the minority....
Just a couple of days ago i watched Muslims drowning some people closed in a cage and submerged in a pool
Why? Seriously, why would you watch that?
Because i am a Greek Nationalist that must watch that - i don't enjoy it (if you think that), but i am familiarized with violence (i served in the Greek S.F., when 3 of my fellow Greeks died from Muslims...)
I remember many things, like how they pretended to be free-speech ("Redefining the Media"...) for building audience while banning videos about stuff that matters (e.g., Muslims' terrorism) - i am not a sick person that likes to watch Muslims doing what Muslims do (on the contrary, i am anti-Muslim that wants Muslim terror to stop existing), but i expect to have the ability documenting AND displaying what it must be documented AND displayed... if i wanted to publish/watch just cat videos...
Anyway, i respect the right of any site to enforce its rules, but i have the right to criticize hypocrisy (i.e., advertise free-speech but in reality enforce censorship).
Where are the current videos of Muslims beheading people? NOT on LiveLeak! Just a couple of days ago i watched Muslims drowning some people closed in a cage and submerged in a pool - NOT on LiveLeak of course, because "Redefining the Media" now means videos with cats! Having a policy of NOT showing videos with Muslims doing what Muslims do makes you one more YouTube clone.
Yes, i know, off-topic (no problem down modding me, it will be fair!), plus i am a hateful anti-Muslim Greek Nationalist , but this "Leave it to LiveLeak for actual video" of yours made me a bit angry (not with you, but with the "LiveLeak - Redefining the Media"... it reminds me "Slashdot - news for nerds, stuff that matters"... yes, a rant from a Greek Nationalist like this is off-topic my dear nerds, i understand!).
And keep in mind that this plane has a water tank in which (especially in the final approach, just before releasing it) the water moves violently, effecting the flight path.
(just 2 months ago we signed a half billion Euros deal with Lockheed for upgrading our P-3 Orion...)
Maybe you could stop wasting money and pay your debts instead. signing deals and spending money you don't have while claiming your creditors don't want to work with you is not right.
Spending money for making sure you can protect yourself from Muslims is never "wasted" - plus, it is our money (ALL the amount given to us Greeks from our creditors -EU/IMF- is LOANS, added to our debt, used ONLY to repay our older debt... it is a cycle for not defaulting, so creditors can get all their money).
When a charge is this serious, the facts don't matter./sarc
hysteria: "for at least two thousand years of European history until the late nineteenth century hysteria referred to a medical condition thought to be particular to women and caused by disturbances of the uterus (from the Greek hystera "uterus")"./irony!
Dude, none of Greece's Canadair (actually "Bombardier" CL-215/CL-415) have "sold off", and they are ready for action, flying right now - you don't understand how dependent we are from those planes (and how we overuse them - watch the video i posted...), and you obviously (since you write "this must be the fantasy Greece that has money") think that Greece is totaly broke (just 2 months ago we signed a half billion Euros deal with Lockheed for upgrading our P-3 Orion...)
In Greece we have a lot of fires in the summer, and a lot of Canadair firefighting planes... great planes, can take (and take) a lot of damage (e.g., birds), and our pilots are great ex Air force guy that will fly some special missions for special forces with that great plane in case of war... getting hit by a drone (in the windshield or in the propeller) is more dangerous sometimes than getting hit by bullets.
An example of a real operation from Greece (you can find many in youtube)... watch how this planes approach and imagine a drone (especially some made with big metal parts) flying in their direct path...
a) What makes you think that "we are begging for your money"? This whole issue is for giving us money so we can give it back to you (we have a budget surplus for our internal needs, we use the loans only to pay back the older loans), and by that no bankruptcy is declared (which would mean some disturbance for ALL).
b) What makes you think that buying some (much needed for our special defence needs) fleet of hovercrafts is a bad idea? Keeping ourselves capable to defend against Muslims is the best idea in the world... you (i guess you are from an EU civilized nation, since you wrote "your money") should do the same!
c) What makes you think that having Greeks protecting Europe from Muslims does not worth paying for? Only a moron can not understand this...
Whatever you do, do not try building a giant wooden statue of Mohammed and concealing your army inside and leaving it outside the Muslims' gates so they'll pull it in.
You want to know what is the difference between a Greek like me and a "barbarian" like you? I find your idea very good my friend!
. i am very pro-austerity and pro-EU/EUROzone, i hope that in the next weeks our current goverment will loose the support so our previous goverment can take control again, continue repaying the loans and you know... do what it must be done. Keep in mind: Greece is a poor state with rich citizens!
So pay your fucking taxes already. There is no way the rest of us are going to subsidize you at the rate of 36 billion euros a year.
(Actually, now we've got you to pay off all the debt you owed to our private banks we're going to throw you to the wolves any day now).
While i think i understand what you write in your parenthesis (i.e., the debt of Greek's state was to private entities - it become debt to public entities -EU citizens- after some foreign countries decided to save their private entities from the risk they took for decades... enjoying huge profits for decades since we Greeks payed them for decades huge interest rates!), allow me to provide some info and details (for those not understanding the situation): the money we Greeks get AS NEW LOAN from the "Troika", is used ONLY for paying our old loans (so we don't default and "Troika" loose all the amount)... and it is about 7 billions a year (the yearly interest of our whole debt). Many people wrongly believe that "Troika" gives us free money so we can "live": it is just a new loan, added to our old, used to repay the old debt. For everything else, we use our state's budget surplus.
Anyway, after that, i must write that i don't feel that our EU partners "throw us to the wolves", instead i think that they do help us (for the above reason of course, but it is a help for us) so everyone -Greece and "Troika"- can use each other for the better - don't feel guilty!
I wonder what Coca-Cola gets out this partnership?
It is a financial AND (mostly) marketing investment - like every similar product, Coca-Cola can not really advertise its product ("well, it's carbonated water, with some poisonous color and flavours, plus sugar... lots of sugar - drink it!") so it advertises its brand ("watch some smiling black kids in Africa using The Internet, that WE brought to them from space thanks to our... carbonated water, with some poisonous color and flavours, plus sugar... lots of sugar - drink it!").
If you write a game called "Kill the Gays", you're an asshole. Don't expected it to last either.
My game titled "Arab homosexuals trying to save themselves from murderous Muslims killing them in Syria and Iraq in 2015 Anno Domini" is o.k.?
" [...] * Hate Speech: We don't allow content advocating against groups of people based on their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity. * Sensitive Events: We don't allow content which may be deemed as capitalizing on or lacking reasonable sensitivity towards a natural disaster, atrocity, conflict, death, or other tragic event. [...]"!
Since i may be / am an "asshole", can you make more clear what can and what can not do? Because i suspect that even "not assholes" and/or (at least) "less than i am assholes" may have a problem understanding this "Don't be an asshole" and/or even the " [...]
* Hate Speech: We don't allow content advocating against groups of people based on their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
* Sensitive Events: We don't allow content which may be deemed as capitalizing on or lacking reasonable sensitivity towards a natural disaster, atrocity, conflict, death, or other tragic event.
[...]"!
note: i understand that it is their right, and i respect that - i just criticize them.
Keep in mind: Greece is a poor state with rich citizens!
what does this mean?
It means that we Greeks, as citizens, have personal income AND wealth (tangible and intangible) that is beyond of our state's reach - in other words, we are extreme tax-evaders (e.g. 1/3 to 1/2 of our economy is "gray/black")!
To the people who got their head cut off by the IS terrorists, it's atrocity
But to people outside of the affected zone, the islamic barbarism might be used to parodize the so-called 'religion of peace'
What Google is saying is that we must be sensitive to atrocities... does it mean that we can no longer parodying the so-called 'peaceful feature' of islam?
I also have a problem understanding those:
Google Play Developer Program Policies: [...] * Hate Speech: We don't allow content advocating against groups of people based on their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity. * Sensitive Events: We don't allow content which may be deemed as capitalizing on or lacking reasonable sensitivity towards a natural disaster, atrocity, conflict, death, or other tragic event. [...]
I agree, they seem over the top. but imma provide a bit of knowledge, maybe you'll find it interesting. Much of 1st amendment law is controlled by a landmark, precedent-setting case, brandenberg v. ohio which laid out definitions like "imminent threat exemption." This superceded the often-misunderstood "fire in a crowded theater" idea from the 1910's. The three components of the "brandenberg test" are intent, imminence, and likelihood. The troll comments fall short of imminence and likelihood, at the very least.
Very interesting link - it supports my claim "in the USA free speech is respected and protected more than anywhere else in the world (much more than Europe for example)"! This case (mentioned in the Slashdot story), is one of those that (because of different ethics) a Greek/European like me can examine/understand only after reading links like the one you provided, so thanks.
A question for you, no trolling, what's it like in Greece with the fiscal stuff? is everybody freaking out? is it like being on an out-of-control freight train?
Don't worry Sir, i understand very easily when someone is trolling and when just asks a reasonable question about the situation.
People here are calm, considering the situation. While we had about 1/4 of our GDP/GNI vanishing, Greeks have a social net based on family that protects almost all from dramatic financial situations... e.g., no one is starving, the images with those waiting for some food are from illegal immigrants that the international media display just for drama!
Technically we are 5 days before declaring bankruptcy (in reality we have one more month before this bankruptcy becomes legaly valid). Greece is in a situation where we can declare bankruptcy (i.e., stop repaying our debt), continue public spendings at current levels (since we have a state's budget surplus), and staying in the EUROzone (i.e., using the "Euro" currency - our EU membership is not an issue even if we had to leave EUROzone) - this solution would be problematic because we could not fund our economy (we can not print Euros!), so if we declare bankruptcy the most logical and likely is to leave EUROzone (but not EU) so we can print Drachmas (our national currency, which we can devalue so our economy can start "moving"). Things are not so dramatic as most/all the international media describe, but are not good also - most Greeks (including myself) want to just continue using the Euro, but many Greeks (not me!) believed our current, 4 months old, (ridiculous) left-wing goverment that promised staying in EUROzone AND relaxing austerity... i am very pro-austerity and pro-EU/EUROzone, i hope that in the next weeks our current goverment will loose the support so our previous goverment can take control again, continue repaying the loans and you know... do what it must be done. Keep in mind: Greece is a poor state with rich citizens!
here's the problem though. there's nothing remotely illegal about the statements that were made. almost all speech is protected under the first amendment, especially speech about political matters.
I am Greek, i am not so informed about the first amendment, i know very well that in the USA free speech is respected and protected more than anywhere else in the world (much more than Europe for example), but...
There are some specific exemptions, including making imminent and specific threats.
So something like, "I'm going to go to this judge's house at X address on Y date and do this thing". The commenters didn't do that.
...you mean that the phrase "It's judges like these that will be taken out back and shot." should be taken like... what i quoted from Telly Savalas ("Greeks... they don't threaten - they utter prophecies!")? Hmmm... as a Greek i must inform you that my fellow Greek Telly Savalas WAS making a threat!
So it's clear on its face that the comments are free speech and not actionable. so why was the govt looking into taking action? that is the question mark.
Because the guy writing "It's judges like these that will be taken out back and shot." may be a Greek? Also remember: a treats may be used just as a way to terrorize a judge, BUT a civilized society can NOT function with judges living in fear.
Example messages:
* (Agammamon 5.31.15 - 10:47AM) Its judges like these that should be taken out back and shot.
** (Alan 5.31.15 - 12:09PM) It's judges like these that will be taken out back and shot. FTFY.
To quote Telly Savalas, while playing Kojak and answering to someone who feels threatened by him: "Greeks... they don't threaten - they utter prophecies!".
To quote you: "[...] so what was the gag for? they could have legitimately wanted to investigate these particular people [...]" - i think that is the reason.
If there is a budget surplus, why the need for further loans? It should be trivial to start paying off loans with that surplus money.
I did not express it very well with this "we have a budget surplus for our internal needs" - i mean we have "primary" ("first level"? i don't know the English term!) surplus, which is the surplus before any loan payments (secondary). And those loan payments are mostly the interests (and any expiring bonds which usualy we sell as new bonds for most of the amount with usualy lower interest rate - this way we repay *some* of the bond, and the rest of the amount becomes new debt to repayed in the future).
In other words: if "magicaly" (or because of bankruptcy!) we got rid of our debt, we could loan YOU (the rest of the world) money!
Slashdot Mirror
The target of hatred and discrimination is subjective and sometimes even just invented or imagined.
So: YOU think that an Arab gay is a subjective and hateful person, who invented an imaginary enemy that wants to kill him, just because he (the Arab gay) wants to discriminate against them (the Arab Muslims)...
Personaly I find the best tactic is to not do what my enemies want me to do.
Personaly I find the best tactic is to not do what my SMART enemies want me to do - but in this case the enemy is Muslims (terrorism is the ONLY thing they know to do - and i am not easily terrorized!).
So? The bad people are everywhere, every goddamn "race" has them in probably exactly equal numbers because "races", just like borders, are imaginary. In Lousiana an entire parish has been refusing to marry anyone for months now, because they don't want LGBT weddings. The only reason they aren't burning people (any more: see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... ) is because of the pacifying effect of the US's relative affluence (which in turn only due to the recent conquest of this land's natural resources). It's Christians in Africa who are executing men for being gay. There is no more violence in Muslim countries than you could predict by looking at their economies (which we shape with our imperialistic might) and noting the statistical correlation between poverty and violence.
So: YOU think that a Greek Christian like me is the same as an Arab Muslim... but Arab GAYS may disagree!
Spending money for making sure you can protect yourself from Muslims is never "wasted"
I beg to differ...
You have that right - a Greek Nationalist like me protects your right...
The information you take in shapes your opinions and the priorities you set. Living in Greece, only a few hundred miles away from these atrocities and presumably being a Christian - one of the groups targeted by these atrocities - one could see how keeping tabs on the actions of these people would have some personal interest to our Greek Nationalist compatriot.
I just read you comment (that answers perfectly on my behalf), i agree with everything you write, especially with the above paragraph - i don't watch Muslims' violence out of pleasure, i am glad that you can understand that some other reason may exist for a Greek Nationalist like me, BUT, unfortunately, people like YOU (who still try to keep the Western Civilization safe) is the minority....
Just a couple of days ago i watched Muslims drowning some people closed in a cage and submerged in a pool
Why? Seriously, why would you watch that?
Because i am a Greek Nationalist that must watch that - i don't enjoy it (if you think that), but i am familiarized with violence (i served in the Greek S.F., when 3 of my fellow Greeks died from Muslims...)
Do they have videos of Greek Nationalists paying their taxes? Oh wait...no such thing exists :)
As a Greek Nationalist i religiously pay my taxes (i understand that you may try to be funny, but i answer to you seriously and honestly)
Anyway, i respect the right of any site to enforce its rules, but i have the right to criticize hypocrisy (i.e., advertise free-speech but in reality enforce censorship).
Leave it to LiveLeak for actual video:
"LiveLeak", the last couple of years, is just a YouTube clone... (actual videos from "YouTube": https://www.youtube.com/watch?... - https://www.youtube.com/watch?... - https://www.youtube.com/watch?... - and many other, added at the same time the video from "LiveLeak" was added)
Where are the current videos of Muslims beheading people? NOT on LiveLeak! Just a couple of days ago i watched Muslims drowning some people closed in a cage and submerged in a pool - NOT on LiveLeak of course, because "Redefining the Media" now means videos with cats! Having a policy of NOT showing videos with Muslims doing what Muslims do makes you one more YouTube clone.
Yes, i know, off-topic (no problem down modding me, it will be fair!), plus i am a hateful anti-Muslim Greek Nationalist , but this "Leave it to LiveLeak for actual video" of yours made me a bit angry (not with you, but with the "LiveLeak - Redefining the Media"... it reminds me "Slashdot - news for nerds, stuff that matters"... yes, a rant from a Greek Nationalist like this is off-topic my dear nerds, i understand!).
And keep in mind that this plane has a water tank in which (especially in the final approach, just before releasing it) the water moves violently, effecting the flight path.
(just 2 months ago we signed a half billion Euros deal with Lockheed for upgrading our P-3 Orion...)
Maybe you could stop wasting money and pay your debts instead. signing deals and spending money you don't have while claiming your creditors don't want to work with you is not right.
Spending money for making sure you can protect yourself from Muslims is never "wasted" - plus, it is our money (ALL the amount given to us Greeks from our creditors -EU/IMF- is LOANS, added to our debt, used ONLY to repay our older debt... it is a cycle for not defaulting, so creditors can get all their money).
When a charge is this serious, the facts don't matter. /sarc
hysteria : "for at least two thousand years of European history until the late nineteenth century hysteria referred to a medical condition thought to be particular to women and caused by disturbances of the uterus (from the Greek hystera "uterus")". /irony!
Dude, none of Greece's Canadair (actually "Bombardier" CL-215/CL-415) have "sold off", and they are ready for action, flying right now - you don't understand how dependent we are from those planes (and how we overuse them - watch the video i posted...), and you obviously (since you write "this must be the fantasy Greece that has money") think that Greece is totaly broke (just 2 months ago we signed a half billion Euros deal with Lockheed for upgrading our P-3 Orion...)
An example of a real operation from Greece (you can find many in youtube)... watch how this planes approach and imagine a drone (especially some made with big metal parts) flying in their direct path...
a) What makes you think that "we are begging for your money"? This whole issue is for giving us money so we can give it back to you (we have a budget surplus for our internal needs, we use the loans only to pay back the older loans), and by that no bankruptcy is declared (which would mean some disturbance for ALL).
b) What makes you think that buying some (much needed for our special defence needs) fleet of hovercrafts is a bad idea? Keeping ourselves capable to defend against Muslims is the best idea in the world... you (i guess you are from an EU civilized nation, since you wrote "your money") should do the same!
c) What makes you think that having Greeks protecting Europe from Muslims does not worth paying for? Only a moron can not understand this...
Whatever you do, do not try building a giant wooden statue of Mohammed and concealing your army inside and leaving it outside the Muslims' gates so they'll pull it in.
You want to know what is the difference between a Greek like me and a "barbarian" like you? I find your idea very good my friend!
. i am very pro-austerity and pro-EU/EUROzone, i hope that in the next weeks our current goverment will loose the support so our previous goverment can take control again, continue repaying the loans and you know... do what it must be done. Keep in mind: Greece is a poor state with rich citizens!
So pay your fucking taxes already. There is no way the rest of us are going to subsidize you at the rate of 36 billion euros a year.
(Actually, now we've got you to pay off all the debt you owed to our private banks we're going to throw you to the wolves any day now).
While i think i understand what you write in your parenthesis (i.e., the debt of Greek's state was to private entities - it become debt to public entities -EU citizens- after some foreign countries decided to save their private entities from the risk they took for decades... enjoying huge profits for decades since we Greeks payed them for decades huge interest rates!), allow me to provide some info and details (for those not understanding the situation): the money we Greeks get AS NEW LOAN from the "Troika", is used ONLY for paying our old loans (so we don't default and "Troika" loose all the amount)... and it is about 7 billions a year (the yearly interest of our whole debt). Many people wrongly believe that "Troika" gives us free money so we can "live": it is just a new loan, added to our old, used to repay the old debt. For everything else, we use our state's budget surplus.
Anyway, after that, i must write that i don't feel that our EU partners "throw us to the wolves", instead i think that they do help us (for the above reason of course, but it is a help for us) so everyone -Greece and "Troika"- can use each other for the better - don't feel guilty!
I wonder what Coca-Cola gets out this partnership?
It is a financial AND (mostly) marketing investment - like every similar product, Coca-Cola can not really advertise its product ("well, it's carbonated water, with some poisonous color and flavours, plus sugar... lots of sugar - drink it!") so it advertises its brand ("watch some smiling black kids in Africa using The Internet, that WE brought to them from space thanks to our... carbonated water, with some poisonous color and flavours, plus sugar... lots of sugar - drink it!").
If you write a game called "Kill the Gays", you're an asshole. Don't expected it to last either.
My game titled "Arab homosexuals trying to save themselves from murderous Muslims killing them in Syria and Iraq in 2015 Anno Domini" is o.k.?
" [...] * Hate Speech: We don't allow content advocating against groups of people based on their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity. * Sensitive Events: We don't allow content which may be deemed as capitalizing on or lacking reasonable sensitivity towards a natural disaster, atrocity, conflict, death, or other tragic event. [...]"!
Translation: Don't be an asshole
Since i may be / am an "asshole", can you make more clear what can and what can not do? Because i suspect that even "not assholes" and/or (at least) "less than i am assholes" may have a problem understanding this "Don't be an asshole" and/or even the " [...] * Hate Speech: We don't allow content advocating against groups of people based on their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity. * Sensitive Events: We don't allow content which may be deemed as capitalizing on or lacking reasonable sensitivity towards a natural disaster, atrocity, conflict, death, or other tragic event. [...]"!
note: i understand that it is their right, and i respect that - i just criticize them.
Keep in mind: Greece is a poor state with rich citizens!
what does this mean?
It means that we Greeks, as citizens, have personal income AND wealth (tangible and intangible) that is beyond of our state's reach - in other words, we are extreme tax-evaders (e.g. 1/3 to 1/2 of our economy is "gray/black")!
Take for examples, the Islamic State
To the people who got their head cut off by the IS terrorists, it's atrocity
But to people outside of the affected zone, the islamic barbarism might be used to parodize the so-called 'religion of peace'
What Google is saying is that we must be sensitive to atrocities ... does it mean that we can no longer parodying the so-called 'peaceful feature' of islam?
I also have a problem understanding those:
Google Play Developer Program Policies:
[...]
* Hate Speech: We don't allow content advocating against groups of people based on their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
* Sensitive Events: We don't allow content which may be deemed as capitalizing on or lacking reasonable sensitivity towards a natural disaster, atrocity, conflict, death, or other tragic event.
[...]
Can a fellow Slashdoter make them more clear?
I agree, they seem over the top. but imma provide a bit of knowledge, maybe you'll find it interesting. Much of 1st amendment law is controlled by a landmark, precedent-setting case, brandenberg v. ohio which laid out definitions like "imminent threat exemption." This superceded the often-misunderstood "fire in a crowded theater" idea from the 1910's. The three components of the "brandenberg test" are intent, imminence, and likelihood. The troll comments fall short of imminence and likelihood, at the very least.
Very interesting link - it supports my claim "in the USA free speech is respected and protected more than anywhere else in the world (much more than Europe for example)"! This case (mentioned in the Slashdot story), is one of those that (because of different ethics) a Greek/European like me can examine/understand only after reading links like the one you provided, so thanks.
A question for you, no trolling, what's it like in Greece with the fiscal stuff? is everybody freaking out? is it like being on an out-of-control freight train?
Don't worry Sir, i understand very easily when someone is trolling and when just asks a reasonable question about the situation.
People here are calm, considering the situation. While we had about 1/4 of our GDP/GNI vanishing, Greeks have a social net based on family that protects almost all from dramatic financial situations... e.g., no one is starving, the images with those waiting for some food are from illegal immigrants that the international media display just for drama!
Technically we are 5 days before declaring bankruptcy (in reality we have one more month before this bankruptcy becomes legaly valid). Greece is in a situation where we can declare bankruptcy (i.e., stop repaying our debt), continue public spendings at current levels (since we have a state's budget surplus), and staying in the EUROzone (i.e., using the "Euro" currency - our EU membership is not an issue even if we had to leave EUROzone) - this solution would be problematic because we could not fund our economy (we can not print Euros!), so if we declare bankruptcy the most logical and likely is to leave EUROzone (but not EU) so we can print Drachmas (our national currency, which we can devalue so our economy can start "moving"). Things are not so dramatic as most/all the international media describe, but are not good also - most Greeks (including myself) want to just continue using the Euro, but many Greeks (not me!) believed our current, 4 months old, (ridiculous) left-wing goverment that promised staying in EUROzone AND relaxing austerity... i am very pro-austerity and pro-EU/EUROzone, i hope that in the next weeks our current goverment will loose the support so our previous goverment can take control again, continue repaying the loans and you know... do what it must be done. Keep in mind: Greece is a poor state with rich citizens!
here's the problem though. there's nothing remotely illegal about the statements that were made. almost all speech is protected under the first amendment, especially speech about political matters.
I am Greek, i am not so informed about the first amendment, i know very well that in the USA free speech is respected and protected more than anywhere else in the world (much more than Europe for example), but...
There are some specific exemptions, including making imminent and specific threats. So something like, "I'm going to go to this judge's house at X address on Y date and do this thing". The commenters didn't do that.
...you mean that the phrase "It's judges like these that will be taken out back and shot." should be taken like... what i quoted from Telly Savalas ("Greeks... they don't threaten - they utter prophecies!")? Hmmm... as a Greek i must inform you that my fellow Greek Telly Savalas WAS making a threat!
So it's clear on its face that the comments are free speech and not actionable. so why was the govt looking into taking action? that is the question mark.
Because the guy writing "It's judges like these that will be taken out back and shot." may be a Greek? Also remember: a treats may be used just as a way to terrorize a judge, BUT a civilized society can NOT function with judges living in fear.
* (Agammamon 5.31.15 - 10:47AM) Its judges like these that should be taken out back and shot.
** (Alan 5.31.15 - 12:09PM) It's judges like these that will be taken out back and shot. FTFY.
To quote Telly Savalas, while playing Kojak and answering to someone who feels threatened by him: "Greeks... they don't threaten - they utter prophecies!".
To quote you: "[...] so what was the gag for? they could have legitimately wanted to investigate these particular people [...]" - i think that is the reason.
If there is a budget surplus, why the need for further loans? It should be trivial to start paying off loans with that surplus money.
I did not express it very well with this "we have a budget surplus for our internal needs" - i mean we have "primary" ("first level"? i don't know the English term!) surplus, which is the surplus before any loan payments (secondary). And those loan payments are mostly the interests (and any expiring bonds which usualy we sell as new bonds for most of the amount with usualy lower interest rate - this way we repay *some* of the bond, and the rest of the amount becomes new debt to repayed in the future).
In other words: if "magicaly" (or because of bankruptcy!) we got rid of our debt, we could loan YOU (the rest of the world) money!