Greece Smoldering

Link: Planet Ark : Firefighters Gain Upper Hand Over Greek Fires .

Firefighters Gain Upper Hand Over Greek Fires

GREECE: August 30, 2007

ATHENS - Greek firefighters started to get to grips with countrywide forest fires on Wednesday after six devastating days, but warned that a coming heatwave could reignite the flames that have killed at least 63 people.

While survivors queued for cash handouts, thousands of people rallied in Athens to protest at what they see as a feeble government response to the crisis, increasing pressure on Prime
Minister Costas Karamanlis who faces re-election next month.

"(I'm angry at) the lives that were lost, the people that were devastated, but most of all at how the state handled the situation – lazily and badly organised," said Maria
Kyritsopoulou, 38, who attended the rally with her two small children. "This will surely affect the elections, I hope it will."

More than 8,000 people, most wearing black as a sign of mourning, were estimated to have taken part in the 'silent'
protest outside parliament organised by word of mouth and through blogs rather than by any political party....

((("Organized by word of mouth and through blogs rather than by any political party." National governments are pitifully out of touch with the harsh realities of the climate crisis.)))

"The government told Reuters it estimated the fire damage at at least 0.6 percent of GDP, or 1.2 billion euros (US$1.6 billion) and said it would apply for European Union emergency aid."

(((And yet nations like Canada still believe that cutting carbon emissions "damages the economy." How does a week that costs half a point of national GDP sound? And does anybody believe that the EU is the lender of last resort for climate catastrophes?)))

"Greeks are angry about the fires which many believe were started deliberately, and horrified by broadcasts of frantic phone calls from villagers surrounded by flames, pleading for help from the overburdened fire service. (((Nice harbinger of paranoid mass hysteria there. What minority group will be blamed as "arsonists" because the forests exploded from unprecedent heat and drought?)))

"But with polls showing a fall in support for both main parties, it looked as if Greeks were becoming increasingly disillusioned with all mainstream politicians..."

(((And for good reason, too, because the mainstream politicians are simply not connected to objective reality. They're taking no effective steps to confront the gathering climate mayhem; of course the voters become disillusioned when the ruling class lives on illusion.)))