tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20629457509247031262024-03-06T05:27:32.231+02:00Sotiria's Learning JourneyWatch Sotiria as she practises English and travels through the wonderland of knowledge.Christina Markoulakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06460428861771429571noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-37951864229114008632014-03-09T18:42:00.002+02:002014-03-09T18:42:33.290+02:00Women's Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Do you know how it all started? </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Read about Women's World Day and its connection to the protest against war as described in the UNA-Canada site and find a vast array of information and photos about women's history and achievements in the websites listed here:</span><br />
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<a href="http://markaki-students.blogspot.gr/2010/03/8-march-international-womens-day.html" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://markaki-students.blogspot.gr/2010/03/8-march-international-womens-day.html</a><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">'Now you understand</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Just why my head's not bowed.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I don't shout or jump about</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Or have to talk real loud.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">When you see me passing</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">It ought to make you proud.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I say,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">It's in the click of my heels,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">The bend of my hair,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">the palm of my hand,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">The need of my care,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">'Cause I'm a woman</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Phenomenally.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Phenomenal woman,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">That's me.'</span><br />
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Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou</div>
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Christina Markoulakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06460428861771429571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-42645596081982053812014-01-23T21:28:00.000+02:002014-01-23T21:29:29.697+02:00What are the most important qualities of every good parent?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">To</span> have a family and especially to bring up children has tremendous responsibility. Being a good parent requires certain qualities. As I see it, being selfless and insporing are the most important.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The most significant quality is selflessness. Good parents should make sacrifices. They do nto have to be egocentric, but give priority to the interests of their children. Children feel iften unloving and lonely, because their parents cannot pas their time with them. That happens as they are stressed ad absolutely tired when they return home after hard work. However childreb always need love and tenderness.</span>That is why parents must devote an importnat part of their free time to them.<br />
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Αll in all, it seems to be generally accepted that the parents of adolescents must be generous and stimulate curiosity of their children. If they have these qualities, their children are more likely to be equilibred, happy, motivated , well educate , sociable to full their potential.<br />
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Moreover, I strongly believe that good parents are a good role model. Children often imitate adylts and especially their parents' habits. In addition, children admire their parents, so their relationship based on admiration, love and respect. If parents read books, do exercises, discuss with their children , the last on will keen on reading and they will be much more extroverted. Good parents motivate and inspire their children ro be creative and curious.<br />
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To sum up, to become a good parent needs generosity and inspiration. Children feel isolated and unhappy if their parents do not deal with them. They can feel if their parents care about them or not. in my opinion, it is really difficult to be a successful parent, but it is not impossible. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-56913466177354175662013-07-05T01:46:00.002+03:002013-07-05T01:46:54.131+03:00American Independence Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/yb7MI8NQLoo" width="480"></iframe>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This video considers the wording of the Declaration of Independence and its indictment of King George III.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>Source:</b>History Channel on youtube.com</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>Length:</b>4 minutes</span></div>
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<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Extension Activity</b></div>
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<li style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); color: black;"><a href="http://www.teachervision.fen.com/american-revolution/documents/780.html" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Declaration of Independence</a></span></li>
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Christina Markoulakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06460428861771429571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-56893650116857743192013-04-08T12:32:00.002+03:002013-04-08T12:32:16.866+03:00The Tallow Candle by Hans Christian Andersen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0px;">The Tallow Candle (</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Christian_Andersen" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Christian_Andersen</a><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">)</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It sizzled and fizzled as the flames fired the cauldron.. it was the Tallow Candle’s cradle - and out of the warm cradle came a flawless candle; solid, shining white and slim it was formed in a way that made everyone who saw it believe that it was a promise of a bright and radiant future – promises that everyone who looked on believed it would really want to keep and fulfil.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The sheep – a fine little sheep – was the candle’s mother, and the melting pot its father. Its mother had given it a shiny white body and an inkling about life, but from its father it had been given a craving for the flaming fire that would eventually go through its marrow and bone and shine for it in life. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">That’s how it was born and had grown; and with the best and brightest anticipation cast itself into existence. There it met so many, many strange creations that it became involved with, wanting to learn about life – and perhaps find the place where it would best fit in. But it had too much faith in the world that only cared about itself, and not at all about the Tallow Candle. A world that failed to understand the value of the candle, and thus tried to use it for its own benefit, holding the candle wrongly; black fingers leaving bigger and bigger blemishes on its pristine white innocence which eventually faded away, completely covered by the dirt of a surrounding world that had come much too close; much closer than the candle could endure, as it had been unable to tell grime from purity – although it remained pristine and unspoiled inside. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">False friends found they could not reach its inner self and angrily cast the candle away as useless.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The filthy outer shell kept all the good away – scared as they were to be tainted with grime and blemishes – and they stayed away. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So there was the poor Tallow Candle, solitary and left alone, at a loss at what to do. Rejected by the good, it now realised it had only been a tool to further the wicked. It felt so unbelievably unhappy, because it had spent its life to no good end – in fact it had perhaps sullied the better parts of its surroundings. It just could not determine why it had been created or where it belonged; why it had been put on this earth – perhaps to end up ruining itself and others. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">More and more, and deeper and deeper, it contemplated – but the more it considered itself, the more despondent it became, finding nothing good, no real substance for itself, no real goal for the existence it had been given at its birth. As if the grimy cape had also covered its eyes. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But then it met a little flame, a tinder box. It knew the candle better than the Tallow Candle knew itself. The tinder box had such a clear view – straight through the outer shell – and inside it found so much good. It came closer and there was bright expectation in the candle – it lit and its heart melted. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Out burst the flame, like the triumphant torch of a blissful wedding. Light burst out bright and clear all around, bathing the way forward with light for its surroundings – its true friends – who were now able to seek truth in the glow of the candle. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The body too was strong enough to give sustenance to the fiery flame. One drop upon another, like the seeds of a new life, trickled round and chubby down the candle, covering the old grime with their bodies.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They were not just the bodily, but also the spiritual issue of the marriage. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And the Tallow Candle had found its right place in life – and shown that it was a real candle, and went on to shine for many a year, pleasing itself and the other creations around it.</span></div>
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Christina Markoulakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06460428861771429571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-17022355263822523642013-03-06T12:34:00.001+02:002013-03-06T12:34:06.331+02:00Education diagram<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ArtUaSWiarplRmGafmD7XL7s8ffwmYXXQYbpngHEE-s/edit?usp=sharing">https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ArtUaSWiarplRmGafmD7XL7s8ffwmYXXQYbpngHEE-s/edit?usp=sharing</a></div>
Christina Markoulakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06460428861771429571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-81282991591991660912013-03-01T13:25:00.002+02:002013-03-01T13:25:37.593+02:00Tense review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://markaki-students.blogspot.gr/2013/03/tense-review-and-chart-on-aboutcom.html">http://markaki-students.blogspot.gr/2013/03/tense-review-and-chart-on-aboutcom.html</a></div>
Christina Markoulakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06460428861771429571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-7209265886013232682012-11-22T13:31:00.001+02:002012-11-22T13:31:31.230+02:00Relative Clause Quiz<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<h1 style="background-color: white; color: #3e3e3e; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 22px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: inherit;">Choose the relative pronoun to complete the relative clause sentence. Each question has only one correct answer. When you are finished click on the "Next Question" button. There are 30 questions to this quiz. Try to use only 1 minute per question. At the end of the quiz, you will receive quiz feedback.</span></h1>
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<a href="http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/bl_relative1.htm">http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/bl_relative1.htm</a> </div>
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Christina Markoulakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06460428861771429571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-78510084887007320352012-11-20T12:16:00.000+02:002013-09-07T17:51:07.306+03:00When Don McLean met Van Gogh<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PsxfvwuCqxo" width="500"></iframe>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> Lyrics</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Starry<br />starry night<br />paint your palette blue and grey<br /><br />look out on a summer's day<br />with eyes that know the<br />darkness in my soul.<br />Shadows on the hills<br />sketch the trees and the daffodils<br /><br />catch the breeze and the winter chills<br /><br />in colors on the snowy linen land.<br />And now I understand what you tried to say to me<br /><br />how you suffered for your sanity<br />how you tried to set them free.<br />They would not listen<br />they did not know how<br /><br />perhaps they'll listen now.<br /><br />Starry<br />starry night<br />flaming flo'rs that brightly blaze<br /><br />swirling clouds in violet haze reflect in<br />Vincent's eyes of China blue.<br />Colors changing hue<br />morning fields of amber grain<br /><br />weathered faces lined in pain<br />are soothed beneath the artist's<br />loving hand.<br />And now I understand what you tried to say to me<br /><br />how you suffered for your sanity<br />how you tried to set them free.<br />perhaps they'll listen now.<br /><br />For they could not love you<br />but still your love was true<br /><br />and when no hope was left in sight on that starry<br />starry night.<br />You took your life<br />as lovers often do;<br />But I could have told you<br />Vincent<br />this world was never<br />meant for one<br />as beautiful as you.<br /><br />Starry<br />starry night<br />portraits hung in empty halls<br /><br />frameless heads on nameless walls<br />with eyes<br />that watch the world and can't forget.<br />Like the stranger that you've met<br /><br />the ragged men in ragged clothes<br /><br />the silver thorn of bloddy rose<br />lie crushed and broken<br />on the virgin snow.<br />And now I think I know what you tried to say to me<br /><br />how you suffered for your sanity<br /> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">how you tried to set them free.<br />They would not listen<br />they're not<br />list'ning still<br />perhaps they never will.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Don Mc Lean meets Van Gogh through music. It is a reference to Vanc Goghs' painting, <i>The starry night. </i>It
also describes different paintings done by the artist. Let's enjoy a
fabulous, tender song dedicated to one of the post popular painters in
the world. </span></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-72066766391501122402012-10-25T13:11:00.000+03:002012-10-25T13:11:04.123+03:00Take another look!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="511" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/14880053" style="border-width: 1px 1px 0; border: 1px solid #CCC; margin-bottom: 5px;" width="479"> </iframe> <br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 5px;">
<strong> <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/cm24/european-languages-quiz-answers" target="_blank" title="European languages quiz answers">European languages quiz answers</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/cm24" target="_blank">Maria Markaki School of Foreign Languages</a></strong> </div>
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Christina Markoulakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06460428861771429571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-86563456795525560452012-09-26T15:58:00.002+03:002012-09-26T15:58:56.537+03:00Quiz!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dEVGaUc2UkN5S3k1bkF5dnotZlBZZVE6MQ" target="_blank">European Languages quiz! </a>
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Christina Markoulakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06460428861771429571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-27023314728050811542012-09-02T13:37:00.002+03:002012-09-02T13:37:07.066+03:00Well done Sotiraki!<object width="500" height="281"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2hcHWx1gGdU?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2hcHWx1gGdU?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="500" height="281" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>Christina Markoulakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06460428861771429571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-11627074634680856782012-08-09T13:03:00.002+03:002012-08-09T16:00:07.823+03:00Why is blogging useful for a foreign language?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Nowadays, the Internet has dominated in our lives. The most people work, communicate and exchange information through it. It is noticed that the use of the Internet and new technologies gain ground to the process of teaching a foreign language. In particular, blogging is considered one of the most useful and popular ways of English practice.</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">First of all, it is so easy and amusing to exercise a foreign language on the blog, because taking notes every day on line , also collecting and arranging new knowledge contribute to revise easily and fast all of which we have already picked up. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">In addition to this, blogging is really beneficial for learners, because expressing our point of view, writing a true or fiction story and describing our experiences on the blog, we practice English and consolidate newly acquired vocabulary. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Finally, blogging is a important supplement of learning process. It seems to be a learning diary too. Both learner and teacher keep always in touch and it consists of a teaching/learning method adapted to their needs and interests. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-61566463211249861272012-08-09T10:06:00.007+03:002012-08-09T16:04:28.486+03:00My favourite singer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"></div><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fNomBqCHlX0" width="560"></iframe><br />
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">My favourite singer is Lisa Hannigan.</span> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">She is an</span> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Irish folk singer. I am fond of her sweet voice, because it makes me feel like calm and touches my soul. Moreover, I adore her songs, because they make me relax and dream. Furthermore, she is very pretty and seems to be discreet. I also admire her ethereal presence and her aesthetic, i.d. how she talks, how she sings, how she dresses and how she moves. She is like a fairy. Finally, I strongly believe that Lisa Hannigan is a graceful and talented singer and with Damien Rice , they are a wonderful duet. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span> <br />
<br />
</div><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hY4IBVolt2w" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><u style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Lyrics</u></span><br />
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">KNOTS</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <br />
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It was early in the morning, <br />
we were sitting on the stoop, <br />
there wheeled away a starling <br />
and I thought that I would too. <br />
Oh for all I knew, <br />
I was lost through and through, <br />
in my high heels and my old dress <br />
with my new keys in the wrong city. <br />
I tie the knots to remember in my heart, <br />
so I choke and I sputter to a stop, <br />
I am a borrower and lender of the lot. <br />
I walk away asleep <br />
and chalk an outline round the scene. <br />
This shadow play of whiskey talk, <br />
a heavy denier dream. <br />
Oh let it be, I was lost in him and me. <br />
In my high heels and my old dress <br />
with my new keys in the wrong city. <br />
I tie the knots to remember in my heart, <br />
so I choke and I sputter to a stop, <br />
I am a borrower and lender of the lot. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>VOLCANO</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span>Don't hold yourself like that<br />
You'll hurt your knees<br />
I kissed your mouth and back<br />
But that's all I need<br />
Don't build your world around volcanoes melt you down<br />
What I am to you is not real<br />
What I am to you you do not need<br />
What I am to you is not what you mean to me<br />
You give me miles and miles of mountains<br />
And I'll ask for the sea<br />
<br />
Don't throw yourself like that<br />
In front of me<br />
I kissed your mouth your back<br />
Is that all you need?<br />
Don't drag my love around volcanoes melt me down<br />
<br />
What I am to you is not real<br />
What I am to you you do not need<br />
What I am to you is not what you mean to me<br />
You give me miles and miles of mountains<br />
And I'll ask what I give to you<br />
Is just what I'm going through<br />
This is nothing new<br />
No no just another phase of finding what I really need<br />
Is what makes me bleed<br />
And like a new disease she's still too young to treat<br />
Like a distant tree<br />
Volcanoes melt me down<br />
She's still too young<br />
I kissed your mouth<br />
You do not need me </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></div><b></b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-61965026289106941572012-08-09T09:36:00.001+03:002012-08-09T09:38:41.627+03:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Happy Birthday to <a href="https://plus.google.com/106576925145604672862/posts">Christina</a>!!!</span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I wish you luck, happiness and riches today, tomorrow and beyond.</span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Kisses and hugs </span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-30602153774224262682012-07-28T22:37:00.002+03:002012-07-28T22:37:25.521+03:00The prize we earned together!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
In Greek: <a href="http://markakischool.blogspot.gr/2012/07/20_28.html">http://markakischool.blogspot.gr/2012/07/20_28.html</a><br />
<br />
In English: <a href="http://markaki-students.blogspot.gr/2012/07/the-award-of-good-digital-teaching.html">THE AWARD OF GOOD DIGITAL TEACHING</a><br />
</div>Christina Markoulakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06460428861771429571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-51990115548407037902012-07-23T01:29:00.000+03:002012-07-23T01:29:51.248+03:00Conjugation of verbs "study", "see"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">PRESENT SIMPLE he studies, he sees</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">PRESENT CONTINUOUS he is studying, he is seeing</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">PAST SIMPLE he studied, he saw</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">PAST CONTINUOUS he was studying, he was seeing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE he has studied, he has seen</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS he has been studying, he has been seeing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">PAST PERFECT SIMPLE he had </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">studied, he had seen</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">PAST </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> PERFECT CONTINUOUS </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">he had been studying, he had been seeing</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">FUTURE SIMPLE he will study , he will see</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">FUTURE CONTINUOUS </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">he will be studying, he will be seeing</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">FUTURE PERFECT SIMPLE </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">he will have studied, he will have seen</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">FUTURE</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> PERFECT CONTINUOUS </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">he will have been studying, he will have been seeing</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-34919456400874230382012-07-23T01:16:00.001+03:002012-07-23T01:34:13.814+03:00Summertime, sung by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
</div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MIDOEsQL7lA" width="420"></iframe> <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Lyrics:</span><br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Summertime and the living' is easy<br />
Fish are jumping and the cotton is high<br />
Oh, your daddy's rich and your ma is good-looking<br />
So hush, little baby; don't you cry<br />
<br />
One of these mornings you're gonna rise up singing<br />
And you'll spread your wings and you'll take to the sky<br />
But till that morning, there ain't nothing can harm you<br />
With daddy and mammy standing by<br />
<br />
One of these mornings you're gonna rise up singing<br />
And you'll spread your wings and you'll take to the sky<br />
But till that morning, there ain't nothing can harm you<br />
With daddy and mammy standing by</div><br />
<br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-67102894362312368772012-07-23T00:40:00.002+03:002012-07-23T01:38:49.687+03:00What do you usually do in the summer?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> Dear my friend,</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I absolutely adore summer, because I am continuously on vacation and I can get away from it all. Surely, I am obliged to confront heatwaves, principally on my island. Fortunately, I am passionate about swimming.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> Everyday, I am mad about discovering new beaches with my friends.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> Thus, I often go on a trip.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> They love to try out doing piles of water sports, but me , I am not so athletic. The island where I stay is full of exotic, sandy or pebbly beaches</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> and water parks. However, I dislike sunbathing, but I can avoid it , sitting in the shade. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I am mad about reading books, especially plays. I prefer reading them wherever there is a bit of shade, of course. In the afternoon, I am keen on cycling with my friends and hanging out with them. We usually talk about politics, human relations</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> or cooking. I have a fantastic time with them. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I am also fond of walking alone, while I listen to my preferred music. So, I have time to dream about my life and an alternative world or to organize my plans of winter in the summer. I cannot hide, I like very much relaxing and I enjoy my life without being anxious about my job or how I will earn my living. I just live. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">And you, what are you interested in doing in the summer? </span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> With love, </span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Juliette </span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-3912601143545439172012-02-24T15:13:00.003+02:002012-02-24T15:13:53.027+02:00Interesting article<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;"></span><br />
<h1 style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 97, 166); border-collapse: collapse; border-left-color: rgb(0, 97, 166); border-right-color: rgb(0, 97, 166); border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 2.166em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.154; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 460px;">
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/14/europe-betraying-greece?fb=native&CMP=FBCNETTXT9038" target="_blank">Shame on Europe for betraying Greece</a></h1>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="stand-first-alone" id="stand-first" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.333em; line-height: 1.25; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 34px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 460px;">
Capitalism is triumphant as EU states sacrifice the Greek people in a desperate attempt to appease the gods of speculation.</div>
</div>Christina Markoulakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06460428861771429571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-3058405662466308242011-10-06T14:33:00.001+03:002011-10-06T14:33:13.478+03:00Je veux... in English!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<object height="360" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VWbdcNmGYJU?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0">
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<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true">
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<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always">
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<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VWbdcNmGYJU?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
Christina Markoulakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06460428861771429571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-27881688130973098652011-09-02T20:13:00.000+03:002011-09-02T20:13:07.764+03:00Two video activities!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Watch two fantastic videos and answer the questions that follow them! Answers can be given in comment form or in a new blog post. You will find everything by clicking on this link:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://aliki-ka.blogspot.com/search/label/Activities">http://aliki-ka.blogspot.com/search/label/Activities</a> </div>
Christina Markoulakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06460428861771429571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-70433244705109028892011-07-21T17:28:00.002+03:002011-07-21T17:28:55.979+03:00Listening to university lectures<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
<embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="311" src="http://blip.tv/play/AdiKYQI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="500"></embed><br />
<div style="font-family: tahoma,arial; font-size: 11px;">
Watch it on <a href="http://academicearth.org/lectures/death-intro/" style="text-decoration: underline;">Academic Earth</a></div>
</div>
<br />
Philosophy of Death, Yale University Introductory Lecture: Listen and write the missing words.<br />
<br />
Professor Shelly Kagan: All right, so this is Philosophy 176. The class is on death. My name is Shelly Kagan. The very first thing I want to do is to invite you to call me Shelly. That is, if we meet on the street, you come talk to me during office hours, you ask some question; Shelly's the name that I respond to. I will, eventually, respond to Professor Kagan, but the synapses take a bit longer for that. It's not the name I immediately 1.__________________. I have found that over the years, fewer and fewer students feel comfortable calling me Shelly. When I was young, it seemed to work. Now I'm gray and august. But if you're comfortable with it, it's the name that I prefer to be called by.<br />
<br />
Now, as I say, this is a class on death. But it's a philosophy class, and what that means is that the set of topics that we're going to be talking about in this class are not 2._________ to the topics that other classes on death might try to cover. So the first thing I want to do is say something about the things we won't be talking about that you might 3.____________ expect or hope that a class on death would talk about, so that if this is not the class you were looking for, you still have time to go check out some other class.<br />
<br />
So here are some things that a class on death could cover that we won't talk about. What I primarily have in mind are sort of 4.________________and 5._____________ questions about the nature of death, or the phenomenon of death. So, a class on death might well have a discussion of the process of dying and coming to 6.____________ yourself with the fact that you're going to die. Some of you may know about Elisabeth Kübler-Ross' discussion of the so-called five stages of dying. There's 7.__________, and then there's anger, and then there's bargaining. I actually don't remember the five stages. We're not going to talk about that. <br />
<br />
Similarly, we're not going to talk about the funeral industry in America and how it rips off people, which it does, in their moments of grief and 8.______________ and overcharges them for the various things that it offers. We're not going to talk about that. We're not going to talk about the process of grieving or 9.___________________. We're not going to talk about sociological attitudes that we have towards the dying in our culture and how we tend to try to keep the dying hidden from the rest of us. These are all perfectly important topics, but they're not, as I say, topics that we're going to be talking about in this class.<br />
<br />
So what will we talk about? Well, the things we'll talk about are philosophical questions that 10.___________ as we begin to think about the nature of death. Like this. In broad scope, the first half of the class is going to be metaphysics, for those of you who are familiar with the philosophical piece of 11.___________. And roughly, the second half of the class is going to be value theory.<br />
<br />
So, the first half of the class is going to be concerned with questions about the nature of death. What happens when we die? Indeed, to get at that question, the first thing we're going to have to think about is what are we? What kind of an 12.__________ is a person? In particular, do we have souls, and for this class when I talk about a soul, what I'm going to mean is sort of a bit of philosophical jargon. I'm going to mean something 13.______________, something distinct from our bodies. Do we have immaterial souls, something that might survive the death of our body? And if not, what does that 14.______ about the nature of death? <br />
<br />
What kind of an event is death? What is it for me to survive? What would it mean for me to survive my death? What does it mean for me to survive tonight? That is, you know, somebody's going to be here 15.___________ to the class on Thursday, 16.___________ that will be me. What is it for that person who's there on Thursday to be the same person as the person who's sitting here lecturing to you today? These are questions about the nature of personal 17._____________. Pretty clearly, to think about death and continued existence and survival, we have to get clear about the nature of personal identity. These sorts of questions will occupy us for 18.___________ the first half of the semester.<br />
<br />
And then we'll turn to value questions. If death is the end, is death bad? Now, of course, most of us are immediately and strongly inclined to think that death is bad. But there are a set of philosophical puzzles about how death could be bad. To sort of give you a quick taste, if after my death I won't exist, how could anything be bad for me? How could anything be bad for something that doesn't exist? So how could death be bad? <br />
<br />
So it's not that the result is going to be that I'm going to try to convince you that death isn't bad, but it takes actually a little bit of work to pin down precisely what is it about death that's bad and how can it be death? Is there more than one thing about death that makes it bad? We'll turn to questions like that. If death is bad, then one might wonder would 19. ___________ be a good thing? That's a question that we'll think about. <br />
<br />
Or, more generally, we'll worry about how should the fact that I'm going to die affect the way I live? What should my attitude be towards my mortality? Should I be afraid of death, for example? Should I despair at the fact that I'm going to die?<br />
<br />
Finally, we'll turn to questions about suicide. Many of us think that given the valuable and precious thing that life is, suicide makes no sense. You're throwing away the only life you're ever going to have. And so we'll end the semester by thinking about questions along the lines of the 20._______________ and morality of suicide. So roughly speaking, that's where we're going. First half of the class, metaphysics; second half of the class, value theory.<br />
<br />
<b>Find the answers </b><a href="http://oyc.yale.edu/philosophy/death/content/transcripts/transcript01.html"><b>here</b></a><b>.</b></div>
Christina Markoulakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06460428861771429571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-37505494051008155872011-07-05T22:20:00.004+03:002012-07-25T12:50:08.691+03:00Are we free?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="329" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eVlsGCNHZK8" width="520"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lucas , an American Jewish teenager protests and stand up for palestinian people. He considers that <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Israel is occupying the Palestinian people in his name, in the name of world Jewry. That is a serious political, social and moral issue. </span></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">I would like us to wonder if we are free to express our opinion or there are limits of freedom of speech. This video indicates us that we are not free to support our point of view and each state do not put up with a civilized dialogue or rational arguments. In addition to this, repressive mechanisms of state prefer violence. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">To conclude, I strongly believe that whoever does violence instead of democratic dialogue, either he is silly or he is unjust. Lucas is a teenager hero , not only because he stands up for palestinians' rights, but also since he is powerful and brave to express his opinion. As human beings we should condemn violence wherever it comes from. </span></span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-1868018067945516012011-07-02T14:44:00.002+03:002011-07-02T14:44:56.936+03:00The last post - Derek K. Miller<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://penmachine-bu.appspot.com/2011/05/the-last-post" style="color: #909926; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><b>penmachine-bu.appspot.com/2011/05/the-last-post</b></span></a></div><br />
This is a blogger's touching final post published after his death from cancer. There are a lot of lessons to be learnt by reading this, but the most important one is expressed in this exract:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>It turns out that no one can imagine what's really coming in our lives. We can plan, and do what we enjoy, but we can't expect our plans to work out. Some of them might, while most probably won't. Inventions and ideas will appear, and events will occur, that we could never foresee. That's neither bad nor good, but it is real.</blockquote><blockquote>I think and hope that's what my daughters can take from my disease and death. And that my wonderful, amazing wife Airdrie can see too. Not that they could die any day, but that they should pursue what they enjoy, and what stimulates their minds, as much as possible—so they can be ready for opportunities, as well as not disappointed when things go sideways, as they inevitably do.</blockquote><br />
More thoughts and updates on Derek's wife's blog: <a href="http://talkingtoair.com/" style="color: #909926; text-decoration: none;">talkingtoair.com</a></div>Christina Markoulakihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06460428861771429571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2062945750924703126.post-36055521766838968512011-07-01T18:25:00.008+03:002011-07-02T01:27:27.377+03:00The most important 48 hours in EU history?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 23px; text-transform: capitalize;">By <span class="author vcard fn" style="font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-transform: none;">Jérôme E. Roos</span> On <abbr class="published" style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: initial; cursor: help; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-transform: none;" title="2011-06-28">June 28, 2011</abbr></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 10px;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 13px;"><br />
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<div class="format_text entry-content" style="line-height: 1.571em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="font-size: 1.4em;"><img alt="Post image for The most important 48 hours in EU history?" class="post_image alignnone" height="300" src="http://roarmag.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Greek-protests.jpg" style="clear: both; display: block; margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="500" /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Amidst mass protests and an historic 48-hour strike, one ‘no’ vote by a Greek MP could tip Greece into bankruptcy and the world into global financial meltdown</strong><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">.</strong></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span id="more-3534" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></span></strong></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The eyes of the world are on Greece. Or, to be more specific, on Syntagma Square, where 300 MPs prepare for a crucial vote on the EU-IMF imposed austerity package — and where <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/28/greece-begins-48-hour-strike" style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">hundreds of thousands</a> of Greeks will converge to stop the vote from being passed in the country’s first 48-hour strike since the fall of the dictatorship.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is an uneasy tension in the air in Athens. Just yesterday, Communist protesters <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jun/27/greek-communists-storm-acropolis-bailout" style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">stormed the Acropolis</a> and unfurled a giant banner calling for a massive organized counterattack. Today, over 5,000 policemen have mobilized in central Athens to prepare for an epic stand-off with hundreds of thousands of striking workers and indignants.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is going on in Athens right now is truly historic. Indeed, superlatives aside, it is nearly impossible to describe the gravity of the situation at hand. What happens in the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-strike-in-greece-2011-6" style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">next 48 hours</a> in Athens will determine the fate of the entire eurozone, the EU and — indeed — the world economy as a whole. This is the very climax of the eurocrisis.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s the short synopsis: today, Greek members of parliament will start debating a new round of austerity measures, which are a condition for Greece to receive both the fifth tranche of last year’s bailout, worth €12bn, and a second bailout, worth €80-120bn from the EU and IMF. They will <a href="http://www.fxstreet.com/technical/market-view/daily-forex-outlook/2011/06/28/" style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">vote</a> on the measures on Wednesday.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, if Parliament votes against, Greece will be <a href="http://roarmag.org/2011/06/greek-crisis-pushes-europe-to-the-brink-of-collapse/" style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">denied</a> both the fifth tranche of last year’s bailout and the second bailout by the EU and IMF. As a result, Greece will be forced to formally default by mid-July, when several billions of euros worth in three and six-month bonds mature.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the midst all of this, hundreds of thousands of Greeks are expected to converge upon Syntagma Square, right in front of Parliament, for the largest mass demonstration so far — coinciding with the country’s <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/28/greece-begins-48-hour-strike" style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">first 48-hour strike</a>since the fall of the dictatorship and the establishment of democracy in 1974. Unions have <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/jun/28/greek-general-strike-austerity-debate" style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">threatened</a> to storm Parliament and physically prevent the vote from taking place.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a result of the strike, the entire country will <a href="http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_27/06/2011_396195" style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">grind to a halt</a> right as the austerity memorandum goes to vote on Wednesday. Indignant protesters will mount popular pressure on Parliament to possibly unsustainable levels, right when four Socialist MPs announced that they consider voting <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">against</span> the memorandum.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This leaves Prime Minister Papandreou’s Parliamentary majority <a href="http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_4_26/06/2011_396030" style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">hanging in the balance</a>: if all four abovementioned Socialist MPs vote against, Papandreou will only have a majority of one. That means that if <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">one</span> more MP unexpectedly votes against the austerity package (or simply fails to show up for the vote), the measures won’t pass.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This, in turn, will almost certainly trigger a sovereign default, as the EU and IMF will withhold the disbursement of additional bailout funds. Rating agencies will call a ‘credit event’, causing the Greek banking sector to collapse. To understand how this could trigger an EU-wide financial meltdown, read the article <a href="http://roarmag.org/2011/06/greek-crisis-pushes-europe-to-the-brink-of-collapse/" style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">here</a>.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the world holds its breath, some smart people are finally starting to realize that this is not just a Greek crisis. Even the <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Wall Street Journal</span> now seems to<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304314404576409410834139324.html" style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">recognize</a> what we have been repeating endlessly on ROAR, namely that this is not a fiscal crisis in Greece, but a financial crisis in the European banking sector:</span></div><blockquote style="border-left-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; color: #666666; margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0.786em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.786em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What we have come to call the Greek crisis is, first, an international banking crisis. Like Lehman Brothers, Greece is definitely not too big to fail. It is too interconnected to fail, too interconnected to the international banking system … What we are calling the Greek crisis is also a crisis of structural economic dysfunction.</span></div></blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Similarly, in an editorial yesterday, <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Guardian</span> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/26/editorial-euro-greece-eurozone-economy" style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">wrote</a> that:</span></div><blockquote style="border-left-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; color: #666666; margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0.786em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.786em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Discussions of the Greek debacle commonly assume that it’s a disaster made in Greece that now requires the rest of Europe to step in and sort it out. Wrong: this is a crisis of the eurozone, in which Athens is not a leading actor but merely a stage set.</span></div></blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Only dimly aware of the structural problems in the eurozone and the looming insolvency of some of Europe’s largest banks, EU leaders <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jun/27/greek-debt-crisis-eu-talks" style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">met up</a> with some of the continent’s richest and most powerful bankers last night. In the luxurious comfort of a Roman palace, they debated how the private sector could contribute to a ‘real’ solution for the crisis.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the options put on the table by the French was to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jun/27/greece-hope-french-banks-agree-debt-rollover" style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">roll over</a> some debt, buying Greece more time to get out of this mess. But while the idea sounds appealing in theory, even the <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Financial Times </span>has <a href="http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2011/06/20/598941/shouting-greek-rollover-whispering-brady-bonds/" style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">recognized</a> that “you’d have to be dropping acid to think that [this approach] is even going to do its job of buying time for the next few years.”</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the German Green Joshka Fischer <a href="http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/fischer63/English" style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">pointed out</a> in an op-ed yesterday, this leaves us with only one realistic policy option: to prepare for a controlled default. But since Europe’s leaders seem unwilling and/or incapable of even considering this as a legitimate policy option, the people are going to have to drive this option home themselves.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately for Greece and for Europe, the only way to demand a sane solution to this overwhelming crisis right now is through a <a href="http://roarmag.org/2011/05/greek-debt-crisis-austerity-resistance-revolution/" style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">full-blown revolt</a>against the Greek political establishment and the <a href="http://roarmag.org/2011/05/merkels-monetary-imperialism-and-the-death-of-greek-democracy/" style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">foreign powers</a> to which it has been so beholden. From Syntagma Square, we are hearing nothing less than a cry for revolution.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Costas Douzinas just <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/27/greece-bailout-eu-neocolonialism" style="color: red; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">put it</a> in <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Guardian</span>:</span></div><blockquote style="border-left-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; color: #666666; margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0.786em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0.786em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Syntagma has become Tahrir Square in slow motion. It is a peaceful, democratic revolt that was easier to start because the fear of brutal repression is smaller, but will be harder to complete as it faces the enormous might of the European Union and global finance capital.</span></div></blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 1.571em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whatever the outcome, in the next 48 hours, the future of Greece, Europe and the world hangs in the balance. I will be on an airplane flying back to Europe for most of it, but hope to continue updating you as soon as I get back. Until then, strength and solidarity to our brothers and sisters in Athens!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Source: </span><a href="http://roarmag.org/2011/06/strike-protest-austerity-athens-greece/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://roarmag.org/2011/06/strike-protest-austerity-athens-greece/</span></a></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4