Media whitewash of peaceful Berlin protests should be a dire warning to all who cherish Democracy

As every good photographer in search of the best angle knows, changing and shifting our perspective is one of the most effective tools at our disposal as we search for beauty and truth.

It has been debilitating for so many therefore in recent months, to be confined to our homes and limited to the second hand accounts of corporate controlled media outlets for information and perspectives on the unprecedented events that are unfolding, as the new decade emerges around us.

It is always dangerous when our ability to discern the truth is dependent on filtered perspectives, that are once or twice removed from the tangible, and our ability to see and hear for ourselves, but that sense of danger and disconnection becomes especially frightening when the filters that inform the perspectives we are limited too are saturated with fear and manipulated by agendas disparate from the truth.

Fear is, and has been since time memoriam, the greatest tool known to oppressors and those who want to control others, whether that is manifest in personal relationships or through authoritarian leaders and governments.

"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself." -John F. Kennedy

Whatever current perspectives we now hold onto, during these rapidly shifting times, it is more essential than ever that we not allow fear to permeate our perspectives and actions. Whether it be fear of spreading illness, fear of economic collapse, fear of loss of liberty, or fear of violence in the streets, fear itself is the most dangerous cancer of all and the enemy that we must never allow to penetrate our hearts. Be careful, yes, but we can never allow fear to dictate our actions, if we are to remain lights in the World.

It is absolutely imperative that we remain vigilant against allowing messages of fear to cloud our judgement, to divide us from each other and ultimately to divide us from our own heart and from acting in a conscious, brave, courageous manner.

Love, that force which Martin Luther King Jr. called, "not some weak emotional bosh, but the most powerful force in the Universe," is the greatest antidote and ultimate kryptonite against fear. Personally, it was the fuel and inspiration that ultimately allowed me to travel, venture out from my safe Hawaiian home, to reunite with my German wife (who I had been separated from for months, by virus travel restrictions) and to gain valuable perspectives on the unprecedented global events effecting us all.

Throughout the unfolding events of the past months, I have done my best to stay grounded in the tangible realities and challenges of life in 2020. I have been especially careful with listening to the science and to medical professionals, especially as I do a lot of community work with the elderly. In lieu of being able to research first hand, and not being a scientist myself, I have done my best as many of us have, to search out a wide array of perspectives and I have kept my mind and my eyes open, without settling on a singular belief structure or authority as being the voice of undisputed truth. 

At the same time, I have never been comfortable with the phrase conspiracy theory, as especially in these times, I find it becomes an umbrella for lumping together any perspective that deviates from mainstream messaging. By immediately labeling diverse opinions and perspectives as being conspiracy theories, alternative perspectives are quickly invalidated, whitewashed and blacklisted without receiving proper examination. 

This propaganda practice of associating the most far fetched, badly researched claims, with earnest integral seekers of truth, is a dangerous cloaking of perspective, tantamount to forcing photographers to all shoot from the same angle. It can certainly not be the tactic of any that seek to discover the truth, as the truth will always be strong enough to encourage questioning and resilient enough to welcome tests of its veracity. 

So, when I embarked on my 24 hour flight from Hawaii to Germany, including a very silent, masked 15 hour cross Atlantic flight, I was as tentative and wary as every passenger aboard. I had my ears perked for the faintest sound of a distant cough. I lowered my mask quickly to eat as much pasta as I felt was necessary to sustain me till my arrival and quickly re-masked myself and did my best to sleep away as much of the flight as I could.

Coming from rural Hawaii, it took some time for me to adjust to German city life, to people everywhere, and especially to the idea that no one was wearing masks outside, even on congested streets. I took solace in the fact that German death rates were among the world's lowest and that German hospitals were emptier than ever and had throughout the global pandemic never reached any levels of stress. It helped too, that upon arriving and being tested, I presently learned I was covid free. 

As timing would have it, my journey here also coincided with two massive protests in Berlin and this is where the heart of this story, of my perspective, reveals itself.

I remember that even as a youth growing up in the sixties and seventies, when the goal of integral journalists was to portray facts in the most objective and unbiased manner possible (how far we have strayed from that perspective), that numbers concerning protests would always be skewered depending on whether the protestors or the institutions that were being protested, reported the numbers, so it is not surprising that the number of people attending these protests has ranged from 20,000 to hundreds of thousands, depending on who reported it.

What has raised the alarm inside my heart and head, that goes off when I sense justice and fair play are being seriously manipulated with, has been the universal whitewashing that has taken place in the media coverage of these events. There has been almost zero diversity of coverage surrounding these events in global media. Not only has the coverage been littered with flat out lies, propaganda and mis-directions, but the narratives have been laced with emotionally charged venom, that is a direct assault on the truth, clearly designed to instill fear in direct proportion to the suppression of simple and clear objective facts.

Let me be crystal clear here, I am not taking any side or advocating any particular stance on either the virus or measures enacted to control it. I am responding to the manner in which the media coverage of a large scale gathering and peaceful protest, in the center of Europe, was completely manipulated and falsified to alter public perception of what actually took place. 

In a World where we have become completely reliant on the media to provide our perspective on truth, this shakes me to the core, as it should shake any of us, whom no longer rely on our direct experience of life to discover the truth about what is happening.

The most hideous and clear example of what I am talking about, is the blanket labeling of these protests as being far-right, pro-nazi events. This could literally not be farther from the truth. There was a wide, diverse attendance that was as far as I could see, almost completely devoid of any far-right perspectives at all. Love, peace and a desire to guard against any encroaching authoritarian actions from the government were the unifying themes of a population, that has been well educated in the dangers of, and the processes in which, authoritarianism grows. 

As an example of how this was manipulated, there was a completely separate 'far-right' event staged at a completely different location, a parliament building, with less than a hundred attendees that was used by the media to define the totally unrelated protests. I will not get into any 'conspiracy theories' about who was behind the staging of that event, because it is irrelevant, what is important is that like conspiracy theory labeling, that completely unconnected event was used to not only tarnish, but to define the intentions and character of the protest, which had no relation to it. 

This massive protest was not a conglomeration of conspiracy theorists or nazis in any way whatsoever. It was a mindful, courageous gathering of people, not trying to deny or endanger anyone's health concerns. It was a gathering of souls who want to make sure, that fear is not magnified and manipulated, in what is a very fragile world, to move our already fragile democracies one step closer to full-on authoritarianism.

It should alarm us all, that the press, our lens on experiences taking place outside the walls we are told to safely remain within, can no longer be relied on to provide us with perspectives that objectively represent the truth. 

Be fearless, be kind, embody love and courage in your actions, and question everything you read, whether it be from the right or the left, the mainstream or the underground, because as Socrates entreated us 2,500 years ago, the only way to discover the truth, is by questioning it.

Hot Spot Heat...

Kos island residents have been increasingly vocal in their protests against the EU proposed HOT SPOT, scheduled to be located at two of the islands underused military camps. The HOT SPOT is one of five that the EU has demanded, and the Greek government has agreed to construct. The other four are on the islands of Lebos, Leros and Chios(where they are already in place) and Samos, where the implementation is being delayed, as on Kos.

The islands have been selected solely on the basis, that they are the islands that refugees have chosen, as their preferred destination, due to their proximity to Turkey and the convenience of the human traffickers, primarily Turkish, who control a billion dollar human smuggling business. No other factors were considered in determining where the HOT SPOTS would be located. Residents have had no say...till now.

It is a very emotional as well as economic issue, with many aspects that were washed over in the EU's rush to bandage up an escalating crisis. The HOT SPOT solution certainly does not address either the root causes of the problem, or the potential consequences to the implementation.

The basic idea is to convert the military bases into refugee processing and welcoming centers, where refugees will be sorted between Syrian and Afghan UN war refugees and the tide of economic refugees, flooding in from Africa and the Middle East (particularly Pakistan), who have no legal claim to enter Europe.

On the surface, particularly after the chaotic scenes of last summer (see my previous blogs), the idea would appear to have merit. During the summer, more than 50,000 refugees a month were arriving on an island with a local population of 25,000. With no place to stay, make-shift camps and tenting areas overflowed onto the roads, parks and historic sites, the main town was over run and overflowing.

The idea of centralizing the refugees and organizing them in a manner which might expedite their exodus, based on a HOT SPOT model that has been operating in Italy for some years was quickly rushed through and forced upon the community without their having any voice in the decision. What the designers of the idea in Brussels are missing, say the locals, is the way the well-organized human traffic operation operates. The locals contend that if there are legitimate welcoming centers on Kos, the word will quickly spread through social media and the substantial underground network, that refugees have a clear route here and Kos is a secure stepping stone on their path to Europe.

This conundrum raises some hypotheticals that could play out in different directions. Local residents point out that just because of the intensity of recent protests on Kos, in spite of the seasonally warm weather, the amount of daily refugee arrivals has already dropped, a tangible sign that they might be right in their strategy...But could it possibly play out that if there was a HOT SPOT here, while the number of refugees might not decrease, the number of non-Syrian refugees, who are much more difficult to deal with as they generally intentionally lose their papers and would need to be repatriated if they are not coming from a UN approved country, would decrease?

While these are significant points to consider looking through the narrow perspective of, to be a HOT SPOT, or not to be a HOT SPOT, looking at the situation on even deeper levels, escalates the heat of the situation significantly, on many levels.

Kos residents claim they stand to take the greatest hit of all the chosen islands, as they are one of the country's top tourist destinations and have an economy that is the most vulnerable to taking on a HOT SPOT, thus they are protesting less against the HOT SPOT idea in general, than the idea of having one on their island. So, the question must be asked, by only looking out for their own backyard, are they missing a vital opportunity to stand together as a nation and demand the situation is addressed in far more crucial way...for example, at  the root level?

Should the German-led EU, pressure and re-organize the Aegean borders of Turkey, rather than supporting a defiant Turkey who increasingly looks like they are going to embark on their own Syrian invasion, after profiteering for so long from supporting Syrian rebels and openly engaging in arms and oil black markets with Syrians both side of the ISIS arena...maneuvers that are continuing the refugee exodus rather than easing it?

Alistair Crooke, writing for the Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alastair-crooke/syria-putin-assad_b_9169998.html), paints a very clear detailed picture of how easily the Syrian conflict could come to a virtual conclusion, and very well may if the Russians finish their already successful strategy of cutting off Turkish supply lines, isolating ISIS and stabilizing Assad's regime. NATO and the EU seem to miss the point that democracy is not the only legitimate government and that some countries are more stable and function more efficiently with strong auto-cratic leaders. This is not a sin and it is a point the US critically missed in Iraq, when in their greed for oil and to initiate an intractable war to fuel their weapon industry, rushed to destabilize Hussein.

It was a massive mistake, not hidden in a world that is increasingly aware of, and becoming fed-up with, a few making huge profits on the many. Russia seems to be taking the lead in making sure that mistake is not repeated in Syria, and while that may be a bitter pill for Germany and the US to swallow, it is less so for Greek islanders who are experiencing the fallout in their homes and far more to the point, the refugees being bombed out of their homes.

Somehow Germany and NATO have placed all their bets on Turkey being the solution to this problem, when in fact they are the core problem. The idea that the EU is pouring BILLIONS into Turkey and talking up even greater military support, while Greece is continually suppressed and castrated by the same EU technocrats does not jive with the local islanders being told they should be the solution to the refugee crisis.

And on top of it all, it is a point not missed, that the very military camps that were constructed to protect Greece from Turkey, a country who has invaded them in both ancient and modern times, are now meant to be converted into camps for refugees exported from Turkey, and Turkey alone has control over who is sent to those camps.

Personally, political  solutions, like allowing Russia and Assad to end this conflict and letting Syria rule their country their way without any outside intervention aside, I see a much more practical and just way of dealing with the stream of refugees.

Currently, the Turkish traffickers charge between 1,000 and 2,000 euros, per person for the boat ride from Turkey to the Greek islands. That is no small sum and much greater than the 50 euro fare tourists pay for the same journey on a much, much safer boat(1 in a hundred drown on every journey). If the EU and Merkel really want to work with Turkey, than that money, from the refugees themselves, rather than lining the pockets of a corrupt few should be used to fund a processing ship that takes the refugees directly from Turkey to the mainland, and by-passes the Islands which are an unnecessary and extra step in the journey. Along the way the refugees could be processed, sorted and fed, all at their expense and they in turn would be getting a lot more for their money and arrive a lot closer to their destination.

Imagine how much organization and care could be provided by streamlining the process and taking the billions of dollars out of the hands of pirates and corrupt government officials and using it as a self-generated resource to solve the refugee influx problem. The fact that this extremely clear, pragmatic and do-able solution is staring the EU in the face and has not been implemented or even suggested, is frankly frightening, not so much in that it points to a severe lack of intelligence and efficient problem solving, but in that a solution so obvious could not simply be overlooked, which implies there must be a hidden agenda.

And that goes much deeper than a local community demanding to have a democratic voice in their own fate. The bottom line is there is no reason for refugees coming to these islands in the first place, if they can't be protected and safe in their homes, which should be the first priority, than their journeys could  be efficiently streamlined and financed with money that is now lining the pockets of a criminal industry. The idea of building hot spots on Greek islands seriously misses the mark.

Protect, Serve and Eat the Rich

No matter how deep your research goes, no matter how good your ability is to navigate the sensationalized and manipulated media perspectives on any given issue, there is no preparation you can make that will prepare you for the visceral reality of experiencing something for yourself.





I was in Athens with a film crew to capture video for my upcoming feature, ANARCHISM, this past weekend. It was the December 6th, 7 year memorial for Alexis Grigoropoulos, the 15 year-old boy shot down in cold-blood by two police officers, in the Exarchia neighborhood of Athens.
Before the planned marches, in which I witnessed more than 5,000 participants (the international media reported hundreds), we visited a small memorial marking the spot of his death, in the graffiti covered Exarchia neighborhood.



What struck me right away was how safe and calm the neighborhood, which is widely hyped as being one of Athens most dangerous, actually is, especially as it is basically a no-police zone. For the police, on the other hand, it is a very dangerous place, they barricade off their one neighborhood station and don't venture into the heart of the neighborhood at all.





This hands-off, let them fend for themselves, don't enter, except under the cover of clouds of tear gas, attitude, is portrayed by the news media, as a clear indication that it is a neighborhood of chaos and high crime. The reality of what I experienced and what residents conveyed to me, was quite the opposite.

The clear absence of police presence gave a palpable lightness to the streets. I felt like I was in an alternative universe, or alternative nation, at the very least. And while there is definitely a bohemian student vibe that dominates, there are people of all ages, walking the streets and sitting typically(for Greeks) at sidewalk cafes. There is a palpable friendliness and camaraderie on the streets, that I have never experienced in a city before.

Of course, police weren't the only notable absent force of the neighborhood. There were also no high end fashion or electronic stores, the banks were long closed and there was no mega corporate presence in coffee shops or retail stores. Sorry kids, no malls.

By nighttime, the neighborhood would be under siege.



The peaceful, but very vocal memorial marches, which were supported by an alliance of left-oriented organizations, men and women of all ages circled the closed off main streets of central Athens, and were all the time sealed off and contained by 6,000 police officers(more than one per protester), dressed in military gear, who lined the sidewalks, basically fencing in the marchers from every side.







The feeling for me, when inside with the protesters, was one of being herded, like sheep. It was a very suffocating feeling, as if there was no escape, and no control, should something...erupt. And as the 2 hour march came full circle, back to the starting point, something did. There was a loud explosion and a big flash of fire, ahead of the marching crowds. No one was injured, but the intensity of the explosion sent the marchers desperately running away, for their lives. I stopped, to try and catch some video of the stampeding people, elders, youth, men and women. But before I could set my camera, I saw a forty-something woman running and at the same time from the line of police, a policeman, as she passed him, stepped off of the curb and blindsided her with his shield, sending her flying into the street and at the feet of the running masses.
No, I didn't get a photo, of the insanely cheap shot, and no I can't explain the feeling of powerlessness I felt in the face of such a cowardly act of injustice,  paralyzed by the intensity of a virtual armed military capable of such unprovoked violence, cut off from my film crew and suddenly unable to see as tear gas filled the air.
I wandered upwind, away from the gas, behind the police lines, not knowing who the enemy was, or what safety looked like, wishing I had a gas mask, and feeling a sense of helplessness amidst the chaos, like none I have ever experienced.



Was that helplessness, somehow at the root of everything? Was that the outcome or the source of the confrontation?



Away from the front lines, away from the sheep herding, for a moment, behind the masks, and from under the helmets, I caught a glimpse of humanity.

But the night was just barely beginning, and if helplessness, or hopelessness was the source, the core anarchists were determined to not allow it to become the outcome. The battle shifted fronts and began in earnest. The Anarchists dug into their Exarchia fortress. And they raged against the dying of the light.



I had been seeking the answer to a question all day, which was this: What was the victory the Anarchists were seeking?
I asked many people, and every time my question was answered with a smile and a kind understanding of my obvious naiviety. They weren't after victory. They didn't expect to win anything. When the day began, I couldn't wrap my understanding around that answer, Surely there had to be a marker, a goal, an objective?
But as the night burned on, as molotov cocktails shattered and flared and lit up the streets, my research, programmed pre-conceptions and logic finally began to burn away as well, and I began to understand not with my mind, but to feel with my racing heart.That helplessness, I had felt in every pore of my body, during the fleeting moments of initiation through the fire of experience. they weren't going to feel that, not for a moment.
For the anarchists of Exarchia, victory might be a far away, inconceivable concept...but defeat, was even more so.

Kos Refugee Crisis Update...A multi-headed Hydra

I've been working for the international media, covering a local story that has skyrocketed to the center of the public's attention....at least for a couple of days. Taking on the journalistic perspective and navigating media scrums, has definitely shone some light into a lot of shadowy spaces.

Taking a moment to reflect on how happy someone can be to have a cucumber, or how long they are willing to wait for it.....is certainly a lesson in gratitude and should be an opportunity to reflect on what we take for granted in life....

These photos were taken in and around an abandoned hotel that has become home to 3-400 refugees from diverse nationalities, Afghanistan and Pakistan dominate, but there are also those from Yemen, Bangladesh, Iraq and Iran here.

Two sisters from Germany, collected private donations and devoted their energies to buying and distributing cucumbers, tomatoes and some chocolate, which they said they bought when there wasn't any produce left at the market....

There were also Greek doctors from Doctors without borders on location.

Both of these developments were new to a camp that has been occupied and growing for months now....International media does bring some positives to the surface....
But winter is coming, and the refugees are arriving in increasing numbers, from....many lands.

On my way home from capturing photos at the port, where hundreds of Syrian refugees hopes in their hearts and on their backs, waited anxiously, to board the 2,500 seat converted cruise ship now being used as a refugee processing center....so far for only Syrian refugees, who do have some...albeit limited...resources.

International help was presnt in the form of UN refugee workers

But before I let the point slip away, the situation is escalating...as I was driving home from the port at 3 in the morning, I saw four separate groups of dozens of refugees, appearing out of the dark, along a dserted beach road, clearly, freshly dropped off by trafficking boats under the cover of a moonless night....

Meanwhile, today at the police station, authorities began to tackle the problem of unrest amongst the other nationalities...

It was a sweltering hot day....and attention should definitely be given to the general calmness of the Greek police and refugees alike.....this particular crowd was of Iranian refugees who were waiting for an organized processing. It's their turn today. There were about 150 of them it seemed....maybe more.

Working with the media, I did learn some things, not all very surprising.....Firstly, both sides of the fence are in uncharted waters, dealing with a very difficult situation for everyone......
The Greek police are trying their best to navigate a difficult situation....Whatever the tabloids may portray....They are humans at heart ....

And this somewhat illuminating statement by a 25 year veteran AP photographer....when referring to the general calm inside the storm and the lack of aggressiveness from either side of the fence....
He said,

It's a good day for the people, but a bad day for us...

Meaning obviously, that the press feeds on conflict and sensationalism. The people....they want peace.

Hopefully there will be more good days for the people......

Inside the Mayhem of the Escalating Greek Refugee Madness

I have spent a good part of my life championing the wisdom of win-win situations and natural wisdom shows us that when something is right, it is right for everyone, and that how when we force things to match our expectations, we are often sabotaging the truth or missing out on more effective or efficient solutions.

Two days intimately exploring and meeting with the exponentially increasing refugee population here on the small Greek island of Kos, turned all my ideas of win-win upside down.

The population of Kos is normally about 22,000. Refugees from war torn Syria and Afghanistan, mixed with an influx of immigrants in search of a better life from Pakistan and Bangladesh, have literally flooded the island at a rate of 5-600 a day since the beginning of the year and the numbers seem to be growing with each passing day. The Government is mobilizing private ships to transport as many as possible each day to processing centers in Thessaloniki and Athens, but it is a struggle to keep up with the numbers.

The local police and coast guard, already under staffed after mandatory EU cuts to governmental agencies, the EU labeled bloated and excessive, were already struggling with maintaining standard services before the influx accelerated and are now desperately struggling to maintain order and some semblance of a system to deal with the massive humanitarian crisis.

The mayor of Kos, Giorgios Kyritsis, has up until the last couple of days, done his best to pretend the problem didn't exist, hoping perhaps if he didn't pay attention to it, the problem would just vanish. 

It hasn't. 

His first suggestion was to give out tents to the thousands camping out, waiting to be shipped off to Athens, where they hope to be processed, given papers and somehow find their way to the promised land of Germany. He stated that he believed if people saw the refugees camping out in the middle of Kos' most picturesque, touristic harbor streets, international assistance would come flying in.

It hasn't.

Quite the opposite has been happening actually. The German led EU finance masters recently swept in and swept up 50 billion in Greek assets(just about everything Greece has), forcing mass privatization and land grabbing. They raised taxes, not to use to fix the inadequate roads, the understaffed schools or the overburdened hospitals, but to repay loans imposed by the ECB and IMF to protect the euro....NOT Greece. Additionally, they  gave the banks increased judicial powers to repossess homes more rapidly.
What they have not done is lift a finger to somehow ease the strain of a humanitarian crisis, that is as far from win-win as any situation could be.

But in the same way, the politics of humans do not linger in the eyes of the Gods, this very real human tragedy is beyond the realm of political understandings and manipulations. A bicycling Doctor from Doctors without Borders stopped to ask me how I felt inside the swarm of Syrian tents and families filling the sidewalks and roads of central Kos town. 

I had no answer. My feelings were swirling beyond the realm of words. I asked her the same question, how do you feel?

She told me it was a tragedy this was happening in Europe.

I said, it was a tragedy it was happening anywhere, she was a doctor without borders, what difference did it make if this was Europe or not.

She said because here, only blocks away, tourists were sipping 6 euro cappuccinos.

I understood her, but the situation was all so much more complex.

People were struggling to understand from both sides. The compassion of locals, whom the refugees said were treating them with kindness and compassion was being tested to its limits. 

The refugees, run out of their homeland by political manipulations and global struggles for resources they couldn't glimpse or understand, had been made false promises by those exploiting them. Suddenly they were facing as uncertain and unstable a reality as the one they were fleeing from.

The locals already under siege from the same global economic masters, have been  putting on their bravest heart and offering what assistance they could, true to the nature of the Greek family spirit, in spite of a tourist season that was suffering from excessive EU sanctions and escalating policies that are as masked by the refugee crisis as they are intensified.

I set out with my camera in search of understanding.

I quickly realized I wouldn't be able to hide behind my camera lens and remain impersonal. Those who could speak even limited English, were eager to speak...and have their photo taken.

In my search for answers, I gained information, but only the kind that led to more questions, and nothing close to anything that hinted at solutions.

I realized there was a definite hierarchy of refugee situations based on national origin. The Syrians, were the definite priority and majority. 

Fortunately, for them, a good deal of them had some resources. Some money, family savings pooled and gathered for the trek of the pioneers searching for work and land they could some day soon bring the rest of the family to. There was a general optimism amongst them that they were only stopping off and would soon be delivered safe and sound to civilized Germany and jobs. 

Many came from bombed out villages, walked to Turkey and than hired Turkish boats to drop them near the Greek coast where they could swim onto the shores of Europe.

Many were promised by the Turkish boatmen who exploited them, easy passage once they arrived in Greece and were confused as to why they had to wait days for their papers and legal status. they questioned me as to why the police were taking so long in processing them. They couldn't know that the local police were under staffed and working overtime to try and keep up with a situation they could not have possibly been prepared for.

The reality of their situation was beginning to settle in and while they were still generally calm, a sense of fear and even anger was beginning to creep in.

The children, while generally trusting and playful, were starting to wonder.

None were ready for what was about to happen the next day. The mayor finally took action and ordered the refugees to be gathered and centralized in one location, the local football stadium. 

Special force police from Athens were called in to assist the mass movement, and local right wing, Golden Dawn affiliates added their aggressive volunteer energies to the herding. Emotions on both sides began to erupt, but the police maintained a professional calm and appeared to keep  tensions to as low levels as could be expected, although the Mayor who couldn't even gather the organizational talents to prepare the local roads for the summer tourist season, now warned, 

“This situation on the island is out of control, There is a real danger of uncontrollable situations. Blood will be shed.”

Everyone, on both sides is becoming increasingly restless, no one has any answers and people increasingly speak in dehumanizing tones, such as they and them, as if either the refugees or the Greeks think and act as one entity, rather than individuals with complex and diverse thoughts, feelings and belief systems.

When I visited the abandoned Hotel Elias, now home to families and singles from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, I began to understand the diversity of dreams people were searching for, hardships they were fleeing from and struggles they were encountering. The more I searched for possible solutions, the deeper the complexities of the problems appeared.

Somehow, the concept of win-win now feels more like an impossible challenge of re-assembling a piece of wood splintered into a thousand pieces.

Stay tuned. More to come.

Please do not reprint photos without requesting permission.

UPDATE.....

Since I posted this, a lot has changed....no EU or outside assistance has come in, but the Greek government sent in peace keepers, police and administrators to process the thousands of refugees. Already massive ships have come in and the majority have been moved off the island. Much smaller numbers...moved from chaotic random camping on the streets, into a centralized location at a local stadium. International media seems to be reporting only one side of the story, the sensationalist side, the rare flare ups and the hardships of the refugees. No attention has been give to the strain on the already economically stressed island residents or the significant volunteer efforts and extensive contributions of the locals to help in whatever way they can.....or as many Syrians reported to me...the kindness of the Greek people.....and while outside agencies have been criticizing the Greeks ability to provide adequate hospitality to the thousands of illegal immigrants arriving monthly, none of those agencies are providing support or pragmatic help....The island situation is clearing and significantly improving but it appears the buck is simply being passed and the root issues are not being addressed...