Crime rates up; policing rates down

Numbers speak the truth and refer to 2007:

• Vehicle thefts up 9%
• Breaking and entering up 7%
• Bank robberies up 17%

Australian tourist clinically dead in Mykonos

Of course a lot of tourists die while on vacation. Excess drinking combined with lurking in dark alleys can lead to many unwanted situations. But this tourist was no victim of any such situation.

The 20 year old Australian was beaten by a club bouncer in the street. The bouncer thought that the Australian and his friends were snatching purses, so decided to pretend he was a cop and ask for ID. The Australian didn’t show him any ID, so the bouncer thought it was justify that he punched the guy in the face and then hit him with an iron club.

The Australian tourist was moved urgently to Athens at Errikos Dunant hospital, where he was pronounced clinically dead.

To be perfectly honest, unfortunate as the whole situation may be, the government and police could not have done anything to prevent it. This could have happenned anywhere, anytime.

The only difference is that if happenned anywhere else except in the Banana Republic of Greece, the club would be closed the next day, the club’s owners would be prosecuted and the bouncer profession would be regulated, requiring bouncers to take frequent physical and psychological exams to get a licence, and even not let them practice if they have a criminal record.

But hey, when your friends give you money under the table you don’t ask them to come down town with you to the police station to have a souvenir photograph taken, do you?

Police fined for breaking Privacy Regulations

The Data Protection Agency decided to fine the Police 5,000 euros for using traffic CCTV cameras to spy on people during protest marches. That’s like taking money (or change rather) from one pocket and putting it in the next.

This not the first such offense for the Police, as they were fined another 3,000 euros back in 2006. See how effective it was the first time?