6th February 2026 W.H. I have just been given your book “Son of Hydra” by my friend Vice-Admiral Heraklis Kalogerakis. Shelley Dark: How lovely – please thank Vice-Admiral Kalogerakis for me. I hope you enjoy it. W.H. I am starting it now. We are just over the road from the Voulgaris estate. S.D. Wayne, do you know anything of the history of the Voulgaris estate? Or maybe an online reference? I would love to know more. W.H. https://www.karapanou.com/the-story/#the-history-of-oikia S.D. Thank you so much, Wayne. That is interesting, Wayne. Do you know when it was acquired? I didn’t include any mention of Aegina in “Son of Hydra” because I wasn’t sure when the land was acquired – whether the Sultan granted it to Giorgos along with the title of Bey and governor of Hydra or whether he bought it before he became governor, during his time in office or later, after leaving Hydra, under pressure from the Council. But Ghikas would certainly have known about it. W.H. I am not well informed about all this. You can ask Heraklis the relevant questions. But here is something I sent to Heraklis the day before yesterday and mentioned to him last night when we were together in a restaurant: https://main.cse-initiative.eu/?p=1349 … Continue reading
Category Archives: English
“Here, courtesy of my Byron Bay friend Jan, what the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (in my youth called the Australian Broadcasting Commission) has to say about Hugo Lennon.” https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-28/who-is-behind-march-for-australia-anti-immigration-rallies/105657548?utm_source=abc_news_web&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_web Postscript on the idea that “far left” and “far right” are “all the same” The story of Queensland medical doctor the late John McCarthy refutes this idea. It is true that John’s political views – which were more or less shared in the 1970s, albeit off the record, even by such people as former governor-general Bill Hayden, have not stood the test of time. The collapse of the Soviet Union could not be intellectually integrated by the then probably most influential Trotskyist theoretician, the Belgian economist Ernest Mandel. Specifically Mandel’s belief that the Soviet nuclear arsenal provided “a measure of protection” to the Soviet state as such appears illusory. But John McCarthy’s devotion to justice and in particular to what are now known as “first nation Australians” was unquestionable. His companion of that time, the later well-known Marcia Langton, would not dispute that, in my opinion. If she and John had remained together she herself might not have become a celebrity but on the other hand John also may not have departed this world at the … Continue reading
Hello Kanelle and others, Thank you, Kanelle, for this: https://main.cse-initiative.eu/?p=1313 I write to you in English, Kanelle, so that Phillip Adams and everyone else can be part of the conversation. Phillip is not the relatively well-known veteran Australian journalist of the same name. He is a Greek-Australian who played a sterling role in the defence of Julian Assange. He participated in an online tribute to Julian that was held on Australia Day in Athens in 2019. I can put it online for you if you want it, but for the moment I will just post this extract where Phillip is speaking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vtxjw675yc Phillip knows more about the post-imprisonment situation with Assange than I do, but Assange is in danger of being forgotten, along with Reiner Fuellmich and others who have taken more risks than the mainstream wants citizens to remember. Nowadays Phillip campaigns against the atrocities taking place in Palestine. He likens them to the historical experience of aborigines in Australia (continuing to the present day in his analysis). In the context of the historical record, on 1st February he posted: https://www.facebook.com/YugambehNation/posts/pfbid0ivBYmJUNoPTAkFhYDXvTqd1XP4RtjkRfsdRgaPLNpRejH1LGQ6P71Eg271mkBd36l There were numerous reactions to it. I cite only those that strengthen what I myself want to say: Tim Robinson … Continue reading
The Greek historian Herodotus, who grew up a subject of the Persian Empire, attributes the following to the young Darius as the latter engaged in comradely debate with fellow-conspirators: “In a democracy malpractices are bound to occur. Corrupt dealings in government services lead not to private feuds, however, as in oligarchies, but to close personal associations,(to collusion), with people putting their heads together and mutually supporting one another. This continues until somebody comes forward as the people’s champion and breaks up the cliques which are out for their own interests. This wins him (her?) the admiration of the mob and this person finds himself (herself?) entrusted with absolute power.” The implication is that the cycle will then start again from the beginning. When Darius became emperor of Persia, his remedy for corruption was execution of those deemed to be corrupt. In more recent times such as following the failed English revolution of the 17th century, reforms were carried out in Britain and the United States to counter corruption through “separation of powers”, including bicameral legislatures, with elected parliaments monitored and supervised by “their betters”. . Bicameral parliaments are supposed to make possible some kind of check or limitation on corruption. … Continue reading
https://odysee.com/Kanellos-Patsios-in-Sydney:221bab94609cd6bd555c2873f1311157d699a850 … Continue reading