Executive summary

I caught this morning ...

I rose in the morning sun shone through the stained glass of our house. I saw the dress Lin had bought in Corfu in January. I felt prescient; a micro-second of incandescent content. She'll be a strong woman μια ισχυρή γυναίκα.
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Here, in a well-filled nutshell, is the driving force for changing Greece.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The work undertaken by the Greek authorities in recent years to reinforce competition law and strengthen the Hellenic Competition Commission  Ελληνική Επιτροπή Ανταγωνισμού, to simplify business administration and to liberalise professional services, has demonstrated their political willingness to address existing regulatory barriers to competition that have contributed to holding back the economic recovery.The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Competition Assessment of Laws and Regulations in Greece project, through the scrutiny of legislation in four sectors of the Greek economy – food processing, retail trade, building materials and tourism – has led to the identification of 555 regulatory restrictions. These regulations were selected as being potentially harmful to competition from the original 1053 legal texts chosen for analysis, using the OECD's Competition Assessment Toolkit. In total, the report makes 329 specific recommendations to mitigate harm to competition.1 In addition, 40 provisions were found to constitute an administrative burden on businesses.2 

Summary of the legal provisions analysed by sector 

If the recommendations detailed in this report are implemented, benefits to consumers in Greece and to the Greek economy should arise in all four sectors. Throughout the project, we have thought to identify the sources of those benefits and, where possible, provide quantitative estimates. Such estimates are made on the basis of experiences of deregulation in other countries in some instances, or by relating conservative estimates of efficiency gains to the overall size of the business activity affected. More specifically, if the particular restrictions that have been identified during the project are lifted, the OECD has calculated a positive effect to the Greek economy of around €5.2 billion. This estimated amount stems from the nine broad issues that we were able to quantify (representing 66 provisions out of 329); in other words, the full effect on the Greek economy is likely to be even larger. The amount is the total of the estimated resulting positive effects on consumer surplus, increased expenditure and higher turnover, respectively, in the sectors analysed, as a result of removing current regulatory barriers to competition.
In addition, we consider that the cumulative, long-term impact on the Greek economy of lifting all the restrictions identified as harmful, including those that were more technical in nature (for instance regulations on foodstuffs), should not be underestimated, since the rationalisation of the body of legislation in these sectors will also positively affect the ability of businesses to compete in the longer term, provided that the recommendations are implemented fully.Such benefits generally take the form of lower prices and greater choice and variety for consumers. Often this will result from entry of new, more efficient firms, or from existing suppliers finding more efficient forms of production under competitive pressure.

Naturally, in some cases there will be a trade-off in terms of the cost of implementing the recommendations. The OECD work has focused entirely on analysing the harm to competition from the regulatory restrictions identified, and how to mitigate it; but in some cases there is likely to be some cost involved in reforming the legislation. It may be the case, for instance, that a funding gap will be created by the lifting of levies on goods or services previously used to finance pension funds. The OECD work on competition assessment does not calculate these costs. Rather it is a study that assesses the harm to competition from the restrictions identified, mainly to consumers, but also to Greek businesses that cannot compete freely. The harm can therefore be thought of as the overall loss of efficiency to the Greek economy.

Key recommendations (out of a total of 329 recommendations)

• Repeal obsolete and outdated legislation for the four sectors analysed, especially from the Code of Foodstuffs and Beverages.

• Abolish all barriers to entry that have been identified. These include the strict licensing requirements in the asphalt sector; minimum requirements for storage, or minimum capital requirements in the building materials sector; numerous barriers to investment in tourism activities, such as geographical restrictions or minimum quality requirements; limits on tourist coach activities; restrictions on offices of travel agents; limits to the trade of blended olive oils; and so on.

• Abolish any requirement to seek price approval or to submit prices to the authorities or to trade and industry associations for all tourist activities.

• Remove all third-party levies and fees. These include the tax on advertising and the levies on flour and on cement.

• Fully liberalise Sunday trading, including for stores above 250m2, shopping malls and outlets.

• The five-day restriction on the shelf life of milk should be lifted. The product’s use-by date should be determined by the producers, according to their pasteurisation methods and the relevant EU regulation. Milk cartons should be clearly stamped with the date of production and the valid-to date.

• Prices of over-the-counter medicines (OTCs) and dietary supplements such as vitamins should be liberalised. This should be done in conjunction with a full liberalisation of the distribution channels.

• Retailers should be able to decide freely on shop promotions and discounts, including on the determination of periods of seasonal sales.

• The regulation of cruises should be relaxed by lifting the round-trip restriction on cruises leaving a Greek port, so as to allow passengers to embark the cruise at one port and disembark at another port.

• The five-mile restriction on moorings should be lifted, allowing marina operators to compete with nearby commercial or fishing ports on prices.

• Finally, horizontal regulations that hamper or thwart the proper functioning of markets should be removed to allow competition to drive efficiency gains and increase productivity across all sectors of the Greek economy.

Provided all the recommendations are fully implemented, the benefits to the Greek economy will include the emergence of more competitive markets, resulting in faster productivity growth over time. In this report we do not attempt to estimate this effect. However, in Australia, which undertook a broad programme to remove regulatory barriers to competition in the 1990s, there have been significant benefits. In 2005 the Productivity Commission examined the effects of selected pro-competitive reforms and calculated that, by enhancing productivity in particular sectors, they had boosted Australia’s GDP by about 2.5% above levels that would have otherwise prevailed. Increased competition in the Greek economy resulting from our recommendations can arise in several different ways, such as:

• removal of barriers to competition between existing suppliers;

• removal of constraints upon the ability of existing suppliers to compete;

• removal of restrictions on the entry of new suppliers, or innovative forms of supply; and

• reduction of costs that are particularly likely to hinder competition, for example because they make it harder to advertise, or impose heavy costs on smaller or newer suppliers in the market.

However, to ensure that these benefits will eventually benefit the Greek consumers, it is important that the suggested measures are fully implemented. Partial lifting of restrictions will yield only partial results. Moreover, this should be seen as only the first part of a much longer process. The OECD Competition Assessment project carried out an ex post assessment of existing legislation and found valuable and meaningful results. To safeguard these results for the future, regulatory impact assessment (RIA), with a particular focus on competition impact assessment of new legislation at the drafting stage, should become an integral part of the policy-making process. 

Notes

1. 1. In 186 cases we make no recommendation. In these cases the restriction was found to be proportional to the policy objective, or the restriction stems from harmonised EU legislation. In some cases, the restrictive provision was abolished during the course of the investigation, and hence no recommendation was made in the final report. All cases are clearly signalled in Annex B.
   
2. 2. These regulations do not have a direct bearing on competition; nonetheless, they constitute burdens on businesses and clearly affect the business environment. The OECD is undertaking a joint project with the Greek Ministry of Administrative Reform and e-Government to measure and reduce the administrative burden in 13 sectors. The restrictions identified were passed on to the Greek government. 
   

See this paper by Aliki Mouriki, National Centre for Social Research, Athens

(extract) ...Despite some undisputable improvements in the business environment over the past few years, SMEs in Greece are still faced with a number of chronic problems that hold up their unrestrained development. The most important of these problems include:
• difficult access to outside financing
• complicated and time-consuming procedures to establish a firm
• excessive regulation and “red tape”, that create a disproportionate administrative burden on small firms as compared to larger firms
• a complicated and unfair taxation system that discriminates against entrepreneurial activities 4
• an ineffective public administration
• unfair competition, exacerbated by regulated markets, illicit trade and the persistence of a number of “closed professions”, where free access is denied (e.g. lawyers, notaries, accountants, pharmacists, etc.)
• a low-skilled workforce (only 1.2% of the adult labour force participates in lifelong learning)
• excessive non-wage labour costs due to high employers’ social security contributions (43,9% of the wage bill, one of the highest proportions in the EU)
• lack of technical support from the state authorities
• social security problems (low pensions, inadequate coverage, sustainability problems).

Kathimerini today.....

Gov't strives for a deal with troika amid persisting rifts

Marathon talks between government officials and troika envoys over the weekend made progress in some areas but the two sides remained far from an agreement, sources indicated on Monday, stressing however that the goal remained to reach a deal before next Monday’s Eurogroup summit.

“It’s a tough situation,” a senior government official told Kathimerini on Monday following talks that began on Sunday at 8 p.m. and finished in the early hours of Clean Monday. “We’ve still got a long road ahead,” the official said, adding that all technical-level proposals by the Greek side had been exhausted and it was time “for a political decision.”....

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Greek Reporter 5 March 2014:  
Samaras, Venizelos Meet On Troika Rift
As a logjam over unresolved reforms remains with international lenders,  Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is set to meet with his Deputy Premier, PASOK Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos, on March 5 to try to find a way to break it before Eurozone finance chiefs meet next week over whether to okay release of a pending nine billion euro installment.
The government has committed to 80% of 153 undone reforms recommended in a so-called Toolkit from the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) but that hasn’t satisfied the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB).
Also on the table is a dispute over how much more money Greek banks need on top of the €50 billion from $325 billion in two bailouts. The estimates range from €5-20 billion and are holding up a resolution on the talks and as the Bank of Greece this week is set to reveal the results of stress tests on state financial institutions.

Samaras and Venizelos are scheduled to talk a day after intense negotiations between the Troika’s envoys and Greek ministers, led by finance chief Yannis Stournaras, who also briefed the Premier.
After all the major structural reforms that have been plodded through, the negotiators are also down to minutiae as well, including lender demands to extend the shelf life of milk – essentially to allow sales of expired products – and to let supermarkets sell non-prescription drugs, an idea fiercely fought by pharmacists who want to keep a monopoly.

Kathimerini editorial 4 March 2014:
A country of vested interests
Certain Greek politicians are finally willing to talk about a fact that previously was never mentioned in public dialogue. This is a country of comfortably entrenched vested interests that are battling to make sure that absolutely nothing ever changes. The only thing they are interested in is maintaining the kind of privileges they gained under particularly nontransparent circumstances. We, the consumers, however – people who end up paying hefty prices for numerous consumer goods in order to keep these vested interests and privileges alive – have proved incapable of developing our own, efficient anti-vested interest network. That is why, on the one hand, we allow all the various lobbies representing the vested interests to monopolise public dialogue, while on the other we fail to provide sufficient support to those very few politicians who are willing to make the kind of difference that would prove beneficial to us all.
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Lin phoned. I was enjoying Lurleen's sweet and savoury pancakes at Livingstone Road Allotments clubhouse and nattering to Denise.

Lurleen cooks pancakes at Livingstone Allotments

When was I coming home, she wanted to know.
"In about half an hour....So?"
She'd been to Good Hope for Amy's latest scan
"A girl" I don't think Lin was surprised. She knew already.

A grand-daughter in July

I shared the news with the lunch club.
"I don't mind if it's boy or girl, but I like the idea of a pigeon pair"
Later talking to Rob in the club I asked him if anyone was planting.
"No-one. Put potatoes in now they'll rot."
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On Tuesday we were babysitting Oliver. When it was my turn we - Oliver, Oscar and I - went to the park and looked at trees, birds and lots of damp grass. I watched Oliver inspecting puddles, tramping up and down in shallow muddy pools, unwilling to catch up, so we could go to the playground before walking home.

Oliver enjoying paddling in Handsworth Park

We dropped in on John Rose's house - three down from ours. Cup of tea and chat, Oscar and Dieter, best of friends, wandering in and out of the garden. A neighbour, George, came round - a bit shaky, just out of hospital. A beer for him and then one for me. Oliver picked biscuits from a pile John had put on the table and fed the dogs, wandered around interesting himself as we talked about the scourge of high cost short term lending. John has been part of the new Archbishop of Canterbury's campaign to help show how private loan companies work. He and others have been mystery shopping for loans, swimming with sharks, and reporting back on the results.
"As financial regulations have tightened in the US, these companies have migrated here"
The archbishop, Justin Welby, worked in the oil industry; he understands finance; has an informed headstart in pressing for tighter financial controls over payday loan companies preying on the poor; rules that come in this April with stricter regulation which should level the ground for Credit Unions to offer similar loans at far lower interest.
It was a pleasant interval, Oliver amusing himself as John, I and George, put the world to rights.
"A pretty pass we've come to making fun of the poor"
"Like going to Bedlam to mock the mad. A spectacle. Poverty porn - and all in the best possible taste"
"It's not as if we don't see people here who are poor, see them in their variety, some dead souls, others hustling, others in quiet retreat. Meantime the very rich have done a swell job getting the surviving poor to hate the one's that struggle and fall"
I had in mind my dialogue with Jan Didrichsen, continuing....a letter last Spring:
Dear J. I suspect that as April's welfare reforms begin to bite, we will encounter, even more than usual, the ugly habit of demonising the poor - about which I know no better remark than this - from the great American writer, Herman Melville, who spent time on a US warship in the 19th century and encountered the justification of the officer class for flogging the lower deck. Such cruelty was essential given the dangerous and depraved behaviour such punishments were designed to quell.

‘Depravity in the oppressed is no apology for the oppressor; but rather an additional stigma to him, as being in large degree, the effect, and not the cause and justification of oppression’ Chap 14 ‘White Jacket’

"The trouble is that there's no narrative, no story robust enough, John. There's the Marxist stuff. Private Eye is better; articulate, wry, researched. The story being told at the moment is the one that says being poor is your own fault. But on top of that is a layer of ironic cruelty. Poverty is now an entertainment. It's like that ground breaking Tiger in your tank ad for petrol, The punters did the advertising. They paid for it. That was a famous first. Now the punters confess in entertaining ways that their condition is of their own creation. It's brilliant. We take punters being billboards for granted now. So the obscene gap between the rich and the poor.  It makes the story of fault so much more convincing! The fib - a good semi-truth - has such currency among us, yet composed and recomposed in places with spotless floors and high views, disseminated assiduously by the media of the mighty. Poverty is panem. Povery is the circus. Hunger games."

Wetness

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Why I like/dislike Facebook - there's so much work to be done...

Simon Baddeley added 2 new photos.

Just watched 'Ikuru' filmed in 1952 - a Japanese film that reminded me of 'It's a Wonderful Life' (1946) - a reminder that there are better things to do than take to making blue crystal meth when you get terminal cancer - much as we enjoyed 'Breaking Bad'

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Post by Linda Baddeley.

General Election ~ 'a new and more volatile chapter'

Voting in the Greek General Election is tomorrow. There’s a polling station in the middle of the village. I hear the sound of politicians talking on people’s televisions as I walk down Democracy Street. On 2 May it was Lefteris’ 70th birthday.

Irini, Kostas, Lefteri and Vasiliki

Lin and I bought greetings and chocolates and sang a universal ‘Happy Birthday to you’. In the background the ignored TV showed politicians speaking from podiums in Q & A sessions with studio audiences. Now and then I followed enough of the chat round the table to know politics was also being discussed in the family.
“No-one knows what will happen” Heads nodded politely when I repeated the widely held opinion that there will be no overall majority and asked, rhetorically, whether any new government would be a coalition, all of whose members will be committed to continuing the current austerity policies. The grim intractability of the picture may explain why the run-up to the Hellenic General Election has felt so quiet, with minimal canvassing, few posters or strewn leaflets. I get more news via phone texts and the web about local elections in the UK, but Teacherdude in Thessaloniki reports to the contrary.

...For many 6th May national elections will mark the end of an era begun in the 70's in which PASOK and New Democracy dominated national politics and promises to usher in a newer, more volatile chapter in public life in Greece...

Here in the village it does seem quiet. The law says voting is compulsory in Greece but as Cinta told me, Greece shares with twelve other countries the habit of not enforcing this. Jim Potts dug out a quote from a chapter on Greece in Cultural Patterns and Technical Change, ed. Margaret Mead (UNESCO 1955)

Government is not personal, and the law is external to the organic, structured whole. It is not the voice of Greece. There is therefore no obligation to obey the law; the guide to conduct here is expediency, and the ability to circumvent.

A low turn-out for polls would be in line with what has happened in local elections in the last couple of years. This is not apathy. Politics is there – but its forms have become a cover for much more that remains unspoken. A plethora of inarticulated apprehensions and passions not yet connected with the exciting organisation of ideas capable of refuting the vice-like hold of the neo-liberal fallacy. It as thought we see the disparate vestiges of an emerging paradigm, held with strong and even happy conviction at the proofs contained in its detailed and diverse manifestations in daily life, in friendship, in talking, writing, gardening, housework and digging across the world, yet arrayed against our disorganised rabble -the fluttering banners of common-sense, faith and normal science. Thus it was between Ptolemaic and Copernican understandings of the cosmos, between Darwin and the bizarre fantasy of special creation. It’s so easy to miss out on inexpressed tensions, hidden even from the self, inside families and friendships, as we know from periodic outbreaks of violence we’ve known in our own part of Birmingham – ‘out of a blue sky’ said the authorities.

Not so. I strive uselessly to make sense of a messy confusing incubation of ideas – some, the worst of the new, others the best of the old, like a human leaving childhood, a gestation whose climax can be predicted, and yet abrupt and unexpected as the breaking of an egg. (See Teacherdude on 'what it takes to be part of the new Greek/EU middleclass')
I asked a friend in the north of the island what he expected in the aftermath of the election.
His reply: 'Chaos'

BBC Radio 4 programmes on Greece

Greece: An Unquiet History (Mar 2012) Writer Maria Margaronis returns home to listen to those living through the Greek disaster - 2

Greece: Broken Marble, Broken Future (Dec 2011) Writer Maria Margaronis returns home to listen to those living through the Greek disaster - 1

Analysis: Preparing for Eurogeddon (Feb 2012) What if Greece had to get a new currency?

Generation E: Far Right Extremists in Greece (Sep 2011)

In Greece, financial meltdown and soaring illegal immigration have led to the rise of young right-wing extremists 

You and Yours: Greek Tourism (Feb 2012)

Winifred Robinson speaks to the Greek Culture and Tourism Minister to find out how the tourist industry in Greece is faring.

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I am excited that we've received conditional permission to place a bee-hive on Plot 14 of the Victoria Jubilee Allotments. Getting permission is not straightforward. Birmingham City Council wants to encourage bees on allotments, having for quite a while prohibited them. I realise, as I did not earlier, that the ‘return of bees’ to urban allotments is fraught with risk-averse considerations. There’s only to be one, let alone two, publicised incidents of negative encounters between bees and the public, and the process of making it normal to allow and indeed encourage beekeeping on allotments will be set back, not to mention the local authority facing litigation from parties inclined to blame them for not protecting the public. I do not, despite the frustrations of getting permissions and removing possible risks and observing probation and being reviewed, consider that council officers are being over-zealous about rules and conditions. This is the price beekeepers within a thoroughly urbanised population must pay for the distancing of so many people of all ages from the details of the cultivation on which we all depend for our food. Everyone knows bees can sting; far fewer know about their vital role in pollination.
Bar Maine, my grandmother, kept bees on Mill End Dairy Farm - where I was born. Many years ago - in the late 1940s - one of her bees got caught in my sister’s hair (she was about 5 or 6) and stung her. I think in curiosity Bay might have wandered rather close to a hive. She naturally screamed in shock and then cried. I was inclined to think ill of bees. Bar came to the rescue, calmed my sister and treated the sting (I think she removed it with tweezers) and told us that the bee who’d stung my sister would now die. I was 7 and I remember even now that my sympathies spread to include the bee (even tho' I now read that idea that a bee's death after it has stung is a 'myth'. It's not automatic) . So it has been since. I am, though, a newcomer to the whole process and the initiative by a friend to use my allotment - encouraged by me - as a hive site, has spurred my interest in the ancient art.

The conditions:

- The bees should be from a new colony, rather than an established one.
 - the beekeeper must have public liability insurance and be a member of the National Bee Keepers Association - No more than one hive can be placed on the plot
- A screen (including insect netting) of around 8ft should be installed a metre away from the boundary of the site alongside the fence. This will also help to shield the bees from unwanted attention from park users, and so ensuring the security of the hive. There is still concern that the bees are rather close to both park users and people working on the site, but the screen should mitigate some of the concerns.
- No bees are to be placed on the plot until the requisite screening has been added to the plot. If you could let your Allotment Liaison Officer know when it has been installed, he will be able to inspect it.
- A risk assessment should be completed by the beekeeper as soon as possible. The Allotment Liaison Officer can advise the tenant of the format of the risk assessment
- The introduction of the bees to be reviewed after this summer in late September, early October.
- Any complaints that the Allotments Team receive will be forwarded to the Victoria Jubilee Allotments Association for action. If any complaints are received, they will form part of the information used as part of the 12 month review.
- An approved bees expert to show where to position the hive on your plot.

With these conditions I was referred to 'a very useful document from NSALG in relation to keeping bees on Allotment sites.' (see also this from the British Beekeepers' Association)

I phoned my neighbour John Rose whose wife Gill, has public liability insurance and is a member of the National Bee Keepers Association. I hope and pray she will be placing her bees on Plot 14 in the very near future. John's already planning the safety netting
"I'll pay you when I see you, John. Brilliant!" We also chatted about local government news. So elected mayors have been voted out everywhere they were proposed except Bristol, though Liverpool went ahead with their Mayor without waiting for a vote.
"I voted against." said John "We are being asked to vote for the post without being told what powers the proposed elected mayors will have."
Nice news that all BNP councillors - sitting and proposed - have disappeared from the local electoral map.
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My friend John Martin - my host and colleague for three lecture tours in Australia - has set out on a Canadian bicycle odyssey, working his way across the continent visiting sustainable communities, research that compares them  them with those in his own Australia and will surely enrich the concept and practice:

We now have our itinerary for the first month worked out. Some people are welcoming, others rather pedestrian in their response. I guess we are the ones who are excited, why should they be. My colleague at U Concordia Bill Reimer - whom you would get on superbly with - is very good smoothing the way forward for us. He has bought an old car and in June will come to Vancouver with his wife Fran and they will travel across Canada with their oldest grand daughter (also an Amy!). They will stop off in many places (Bill's family history is Russian Mennonites and  his relative settles across the plains of Canada) so their Amy can learn about her family history (the Google map of our itinerary on Annie's blog was an idea from Bill).
I will do an update to sustainable canadian communities (the site about the study) early next week. I expect Al will do one his site - canadothis - mid next week and I believe Annie is always working on her site - visual journey across canada. I like the way these are all linked. Enjoy cycling and boating in Corfu. We have great memories of how special a place it is. You guys are very lucky to be able to live there for a good time of the year. Love to Lin, John and Annie

Why the bicycles? This from the project's website:

There are three of us involved in this research across Canada. Professor John Martin is Director of the Centre for Sustainable Regional Communities at La Trobe University. Alistair Walker is an Analyst with the Rural Finance Corporation, both based in Bendigo, Victoria. John and Alistair will cycle to each community and the story of these places will be part of a documentary on the sustainability of small Canadian towns produced by John’s partner, a filmmaker Annie Guthrie. Annie will be in a car. The car travelling with us will provide a backup for safety purposes as well to enable Annie to transport film equipment.
We have chosen to visit these places by bicycle because we are interested in seeing the country through the eyes of a cyclist, allowing us to take our time to take in more along the way. While we are both experienced cyclists we wanted the meet the challenge of the rigour and length of this 7,400 km ride. We believe using a slower means of transport will bring a new perspective to what we find on our journey.
We know from our previous journeys in Australia, you see things as you are cycling along that you don’t see in a car. We also have found that people are most welcoming when you arrive by bike. I can’t explain why but suspect people admire the tenacity or courage in taking on the challenge of a long distance ride. Arriving this way gives you an introduction to people and places that you would not otherwise get when rushing in and out in a car or bus. As such our itinerary below might slip a day or two here and there but it is our intention to stick with it as close as possible assuming the weather and other unforeseen events don’t intervene.

Outline of the research: Canadian and Australian rural communities have much in common. They are located in federations similar in structure and function with provinces/states having considerable authority over these places. Governments are often challenged to provide equitable services to all places, especially so in rural communities. Yet these communities continue to survive often facing the most challenging demographic, economic and environmental circumstances. In this comparative research study we ask:
What is it about these places, people and institutions that sustain them over time.
How does their past, current economic fortunes, social networks and public institutions work together to ensure their sustainability?

I recognise this research is not only about Canada and Australia. Apart from my pleasure (and envy) at following the adventure on which John, Annie and Bill are embarked, I am fascinated by their work; interested in the application of their research to the places and people that matter to me.

Collecting the collection

John Rose, me, David and Jenny Knowles

I'm back in Birmingham with my step-father's films and tapes in the back of our transit van ready to be taken on to safe storage in the city centre. John, my neighbour in Handsworth, and I left for Plymouth at eight this morning. At Royal William Yard by the sea at Plymouth we met up with Jenny and David Knowles and immediately began trolleying the films and tapes of the Jack Hargreaves Collection from their long resting place on shelves in the South West Film and Television Archive (SWFTA) out of the building and into the transit van for the 200 mile journey home. David picked out boxes bearing his writing that he'd not seen for over twenty years - tapes from  Old Country, the series he did with Jack for Channel 4, successor to Out of Town. These he'll check over at his home in Hythe.

"The past is passing away in the English countryside at a rapidly accelerating speed. The change is amazing" said Jack towards the end of his life. The films he talks about in this clip were stored on shelves in the shed next to his home in Dorset. They are silent 16mm films, some going back to the early 1970s, all shot by his long-term cameraman, Stan Bréhaut. They were transferred from that shed at Raven Cottage after Jack's death in 1994 by his friend Nick Wright, who stored them in his own house for nearly a decade. When Nick moved home and no longer had room for the collection, he transferred the films to the archive at Plymouth. We collected them from there today - their cans somewhat rusty after so many years.

"This one's from 1974! "(photo: Dave Knowles)

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Friday 13th:  Richard Pine has just circulated his latest piece on Greece in the Irish Times - 'Greece undone by toxic blend of clientelism and corruption' - anticipating the Greek general election in early May, comparing the collusion of politicians and populace in the corruption of public life, in both Greece and Ireland - a reminder that "my friends, we all ate at the same table" "Τα φαγαμε ολοι Μαζί"

...In the build-up to the general election to be held in early May, the two major parties, Pasok and New Democracy, have fragmented, with eight or nine minor parties in the field, each of which (except the Communist Party) has a chance of featuring in what will almost certainly be a coalition government.
Defections from Pasok have led to the creation of Democratic Left and Social Pact, while New Democracy’s defectors have set up Democratic Alliance and Independent Greeks. Laos (the right-wing Popular Orthodox Rally) and Syriza (Radical Left Coalition) and the communists have largely been immune from this fragmentation. To these must be added National Unity League, founded last year by former army officers, and Golden Dawn, a group of self-professed anti-Semitic and xenophobic fascists.
Parallel to this has been the growth of illegal organisations, following the dispersal of 17 November, the terrorist group that dictated the rhythm of Greek political violence from 1975 until the arrest of its leaders in 2002. The successor was Revolutionary Struggle, which emerged in 2003, followed by the Sect of Revolutionaries (a splinter from the former) that assassinated a journalist in 2010.
Others are Urban Guerrilla War, Lambros Fountas Guerrilla Group, Revolutionary National Socialist Front and the Terrorist Guerrilla Group. By far the most active in recent times has been the Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire, which in 2010 sent a spate of letter bombs to foreign embassies and is suspected of the bomb that killed an aide to the law enforcement minister.
Leaving terrorism aside, Greece and Ireland have much in common. Fintan O’Toole’s assessment of the Mahon tribunal report (March 24th) rings horribly true to Greek ears. He portrays 'the great silence' of a complacent electorate* who allowed themselves to be fooled by politicians into 'passive collusion', while 'corruption affected every level' and 'undermined the rule of law'. Substitute Greek names for Irish, and you have the situation here: Greeks in general enjoy the same tolerance of bribery and clientelism.
Media commentators here continually refer to similar levels of corruption in public life, and the Greek people’s capacity to condone it....

*Fintan O’Toole: The really tough thing about the Mahon report is that it strongly implies that few of us were really that naïve. It suggests that the issue with corruption in Ireland is not innocence but wilful ignorance, not just wrongdoing but passive collusion. What happened was not belief in Bertie Ahern’s lies but something more subtle and more characteristic of Irish culture: a suspension of disbelief.
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Good Friday in Ano Korakiana...

...a rainy day of mourning; a re-enactment of the crucifixion across Greece. A picture of Christ is on the Epitaphio, its edges dressed with carnations. From the church, boys carry lowered standards, followed by villagers, the choir behind, along Democracy Street, everyone carrying candles. When the funeral procession is back in the church, people take carnations home.
...and a taste of what we're missing arriving late - The Liston in Corfu on Easter Saturday this time last year. Είναι όλοι τους εξαιρετικοί

Moving things

Yesterday morning I'm up early to arrange to collect the tipper truck from the park compound to drive over to the garage in St Peter's Road where the tools and machinery that belong to the Central Handsworth Practical Care Project have been kept for many years. At last we have an alternative place for them in the secure garage of the compound, thanks to Gary McManus of Birmingham Parks and Nurseries, the arms-length city company that looks after Handsworth and other parks around the city.
I'd walked Oscar over to St Peter's Road the night before and introduced myself to Glynis' husband George, who owns the garage. We made an appointment for Monday's move. At the compound in the park where I cycled I found the tipper truck battery again dead. Not a spark. I tried to phone Ian at Cornwall Road Autos. His phone was engaged. I cycled there - about half a mile. He was working in his little office.
"I'll be over in 10 minutes"
Back at the compound I began moving tools already in the tipper's cabin into the compound's garage. Ian arrived to gave the tipper a jump-lead start from his car. We let the engine run a while,
I drove out - pulling in wing mirrors - through one side of the Holly Road Park Gates (the sibling gate currently sags on its hinges, so not easily opened). In St Peter's Road, a mile away, narrow, lined with parked cars, I found a space near George's lock-up. He let me in through his front door then into the garage where I lifted out the heavy iron bolt bar that guards its doors and began transporting an Aladdin's Cave of tools into the back of the tipper; in the case of hand tools into the cabin. The mowers needed two to lift but I managed on my own to heave them onto the tipper bed with the side flaps down. Loaded with mowers, strimmers, hedge trimmers, chains-saws, a leaf blower, and more, I drove back to the park compound. With help from Imran, who works there and has an allotment near me on the VJA, carried the equipment into the garage, laying them higgledy-piggley on the concrete floor.

I rang my neighbour John Rose - on the advisory group of the project - who I well knew was already busy on phone and computer with other community responsibilities - and asked if he could manage half an hour to help with my second trip - towing a wood chipper that filled a large part of George's garage. John came as busy people do, and we lugged and heaved at the chipper to get it connected to the tipper's tow ball. Waving by or stopping drivers trying to get through St Peter's Road as we worked.

Once back at the Park, Allen Broad took over and expertly reversed chipper and tipper into an assigned space on the compound. We spoke of next steps; neatly storing and securing the tools, planning to sell the truck and the chipper. I'm almost exhausted with small but important details like having the right keys for things and the right cable connections between the tipper and the chipper - one being UK and the other a new European connector for which I must get an adaptor, and as the man at Halfords said "Make sure you're clear which is female and male."

UK - er - transgender?

New European female

There has also to be a break-away cable in case the tow breaks. It's there but with no clear means of attachment to the tipper.
"That's illegal" said Allen mildly - reminding me of how much attention is required to detail when handling equipment - complicated and frustrating for the untrained, but sensible for all the grumbling in which I will often share about our 'risk averse society'. It's sensible Health and Safety, with insurance and legal penalties for non-observance. All these tools are assets if properly managed. I'm confident that the best way forward for Handsworth Helping Hands (our new and streamlined name) is to make ourselves into a smaller operation, rely on our transit van - now repaired and fit for purpose - and fewer tools. The sale of what we don't need, especially the tipper, will give us some working capital while we look for paid work and seek funding for work that vulnerable members of the local community cannot afford.

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Aftab Rahman who runs a successful business in town asked me to write a support letter for a proposed Heritage Trail through Handsworth and Lozells. I willingly sent him one, composed over the weekend:

Dear Aftab. My family and I have lived in Handsworth since 1979. I’ve worked at Birmingham University since 1973, where I remain a part-time lecturer attached to the Institute of Local Government Studies. I’ve been involved in voluntary work over many years, starting the Handsworth Allotments Information Group, campaigning to save urban growing space. I support campaigns for improved transport and safer streets for walkers and cyclists. I’ve written a history of Handsworth Park, co-founded the Handsworth Park Association in 1992, given evidence to a Parliamentary Sub-committee on ‘Town and Country Parks’ and featured in TV documentaries about the area.
I am enthusiastic about your proposal to develop a Heritage Trail in Lozells and East Handsworth. There are many layers of history in this area – past and in the making. It is important for people’s sense of identity and place, and therefore community, that they should have opportunities to align the trajectories of their own journey to this area with those of people whose journeys preceded theirs.

For participants, from inside and outside Handsworth and East Lozells, a trail of the kind you have in mind – one that can be followed by everyone in ways that include access for those with limited mobility - offers an opportunity to re-create, in a defined area of the city, an account of the industrial revolution, the connections forged here to an emerging global economy, life endured through the ordeals of war, fascinating changes in the composition of the area’s inhabitants, as this inner suburb of ‘a great working city’ became the one we know today.
In recent decades the narrative of this, and other inner suburbs of Birmingham, has often been recounted as urban pathology. We who live in Handsworth and Lozells know its ‘notoriety’ is grossly exaggerated, even groundless; that even with its problems, this place is rich in good surprises. A Heritage Trail through its places and spaces – of which you had room to mention just a few - will be a means of imparting a truer and deeper picture of the area, embedding, in the course of an entertaining tour, wonderful stories about ourselves and our neighbours; our ancestors and theirs.
I am happy to support this initiative, willing to join any steering group that might help the project into fruition, and willing to offer my voluntary support as your proposal is developed.  Yours sincerely,  Simon

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Meantime mindful of Durban's Climate Change talks I thank Corfucius for re-posting this comment by Vivek Chauhan, a young film maker, together with naturalists working with the Sanctuary Asia network.

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I note the blurb for a book I want for Christmas, World Changing: A user's guide for the 21st century...

Five years after the initial publication of Worldchanging, the landscape of environmentalism and sustainability has changed dramatically...This 2nd edition of the bestselling book is extensively revised to include the latest trends, technologies, and solutions in sustainable living. More than 160 new entries include up-to-the-minute information on the locavore movement, carbon-neutral homes, novel transportation solutions, the growing trend of ecotourism, the concept of food justice, and much more. Additional new sections focus on the role of cities as the catalyst for change in our society. With 50% new content, this overhauled edition incorporates the most recent studies and projects being implemented worldwide....

Meantime news that a Russian research team surveying the East Siberian Arctic Shelf for nearly 20 years, have been ill-surprised at discovering far greater methane gas releases than expected.

Dr Igor Semiletov "Earlier we found torch-like structures like this but they were only tens of metres in diameter. This is the first time that we've found continuous, powerful and impressive seeping structures, more than 1,000 metres in diameter. It's amazing. I was most impressed by the sheer scale and high density of the plumes. Over a relatively small area we found more than 100, but over a wider area there should be thousands of them."
Before long the Merchants of Doubt will be trying to sink their rotting teeth into this depressing news.
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Tuesday night the Friends of Black Patch Park had their first Christmas lunch together at the Soho Foundry Pub - lamb and roast with gravy and peas and beans and Yorkshire pudding, all for £2 each. Despite the slope up Soho Hill from home it takes me less than 15 minutes to cycle to these meetings - 2 miles there and back via Soho Road. We've been meeting for many years now but this was our first indulgence. Ted Rudge, whose long been a member, was also our guest of honour.

Stacey Dooley, Andrew Simons, Ted Rudge, John Madgwick,  Vera Jones, Harjinder Singh Jeet, Ron Collins (Chair), Sue Goderidge and others from the Friends of Black Patch Park

After eating we started our meeting, focusing on the link between the Gypsies and the Black Patch. Ted announced that the Romany & Traveller Family History Society would like to hold their Annual Open Day on Black Patch Park on Saturday 21 July 2012. We discussed the convergence on Black Patch of the Romany, of Charlie Chaplin born 1889 to Charles and Hannah Chaplin in a caravan on the Black Patch before they moved to London, the Soho Foundry created in 1795 by Matthew Boulton and James Watt at Smethwick, opposite the pub where we were meeting. This is an amazing place, slightly scary at times, haunted, ripe for yarns, a place in space and time. I count myself lucky to be its advocate in such pleasant and interesting company.

The Soho Foundry when I visited in 2007 (Photo: Ted Rudge)

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In Ano Korakiana people will be bringing their olives - the little black Corfu olives - to be pressed for oil, mainly for household use, in the well equipped mill below the village.

Ξεκίνημα για το συνεταιριστικό ελαιουργείο

Αυλαία για το συνεταιριστικό ελαιουργείο της Άνω Κορακιάνας. Μετά από αρκετές ημέρες εντατικής προετοιμασίας, η ανακοίνωση της νέας Διοίκησης του Συνεταιρισμού καλεί τους ενδιαφερόμενους να προσκομίσουν τον ελαιόκαρπό τους την Τετάρτη 14/12/2011 και από ώρα 14.00 έως 19.00, προκειμένου το ελαιουργείο να αλέσει την επόμενη μέρα Πέμπτη 15/12/2011.
Message from the cooperative mill in Ano Korakiana. After several days of intensive preparation, the new Managing Partnership invites interested parties to bring their harvest to the mill on Wednesday 14 December between 14.00 and 19.00 hours for pressing on Thursday 15 December '11.