The Level of Public Sector Corruption in 176 Countries

An article regarding this subject along with the map to support it was posted a few month back on the Washington Post.
The article shows the level of public sector corruption in 176 countries around the globe.

According to this map, Greece's position is 94 with a score of 36 points, the same as India, Djibouti and Senegal.
Romania's position in the top is 68 with 44 points, along with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. 
The top three countries where corruption is virtually in existent are Denmark, Finland and New Zealand. 
At the opposite pole there are Somalia, Afghanistan and North Korea with the lowest score in the chart, 8 points. 

Source

The Blood Strawberries of Nea Manolada Greece

Last week Greece was faced with horror scenes that looked taken from a slasher movie.

At least 34 Bangladeshi workers ended up in the hospital after they were shot by land caretakers in the strawberry fields in Nea Manolada, Ilia. More then 150 angry foreign workers from Bangladesh and Egypt who were unpaid for at least six months had gathered demanding to be paid for their work. Instead they were shot by the business’s caretakers.

According to the victims’ testimonies, at least three people with hunting rifles suddenly starting shooting at them. Pandemonium followed with gory workers trying to hide in the nearby fields and gunmen chasing them.

The injured were taken to hospitals and health centers of the region and the most seriously injured were transported by ambulances to hospitals of Patras. Five people were hospitalized in critical condition with wounds all over their body from the shots.

As the Greek police revealed, they arrested the owner of the company while they are still searching for the three caretakers. Information indicates that the perpetrators fled by car to Patras.

The police, however, said that one of the three company employees opened fire.
This is not the first time similar events involving foreign workers in the region are reported. 
Sources say that one of the three care takers was involved in a similar violent outburst against an Egyptian worker who dared to ask for his money. The worker was dragged behind the car while hanging from the car door and left unconscious at the side of the road.
The Serious incidents having to do with the wages of foreign workers had broken out last May.

Sources:
http://icantrelaxingreece.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/immigrant-workers-shot-in-nea-manolada/
http://tvxs.gr/news/blogarontas/nea-manolada-ileia-kolombia

Panic level loading..Loaded!

Last weekend we went to Veria, a mountain town in the northern part of Greece. And since someone we know rented an apartment and intends to move there, we decided to go see the place.
In Greece, when you rent an apartment, you get it all empty, without furniture, sometimes even without bulbs. So, it wasn't much to see except a previous tenant which died of totally unnatural causes, a scorpion. 

Where I come from, we don't have scorpions. And I could have sworn there aren't any here either since in two years that I've been living here I haven't seen any....until now.
Have you ever seen a cat getting scared?


See the jumping cat? That was me! Panicking!
I started asking around and apparently there are scorpions in Greece, lots of them, but they are normally in the rural area. The apartment that we visited was in the center of the town which makes it kinda odd. 
The good news is, as far as I read, that even though they are all all venomous  none of them are deadly, just very painful. 
 

Money for Nothing

 If you ever go to "laiki" which is the fresh market in Greece. Look very carefully at the bills people give you as change, not at their big smiles and willingness to help. 
You might get the surprise of receiving fake money. From the two bills bellow one is fake and the other one is real. To tell you the truth I couldn't make out which one is which at the beginning but need teaches you. 

Fake

Real

Fake

Real