OUR ESTABLISHMENT would like to congratulate and express its unconditional support to deputies Averof Neophytou and Nicholas Papadopoulos, a.k.a. Ethnarch Junior, for their ongoing campaign to introduce an element of sanity to the public debate about state finances and to push the cowardly government into some rational decision-making.
Some might say they deserve no praise for doing their job, but how many other deputies have had the guts to speak out in public about the government’s lunatic policies and need to cut the public sector pay-roll and pensions? How many other deputies have publicly slammed the privileges of the public parasites driving the state to bankruptcy?
With parliamentary elections only five months away, most deputies have kept quiet about the biggest problem facing the economy because they do not want to risk losing votes from the public sector parasites that always punish politicians who question their privileged treatment. The majority of our deputies would rather the state went bankrupt than risk losing the parasite vote.
This is not the case with Averof and Nicholas. Both have been repeatedly attacked by the hideously arrogant leader of the public parasites union – the miserable-looking, constantly sulking Glafcos Hadjipetrou – for demanding drastic cuts in the parasites’ sector. At least two politicians are acting like men, standing up for what is right and refusing to be intimidated by the leader of the all-devouring parasites. We salute you.
THIS IS political courage and not the vacuous, defiant, populist rhetoric about the Cyprob in which the majority of the politicians engage, knowing it is zero-cost. DIKO’s parliamentary spokesman, Andreas Angelides gave a demonstration of this vacuous, vote-buying bravery by making a big issue about the use of the adjective ‘south’ in reference to the Republic in the UN Secretary-General’s report.
This showed a lack of respect for the Republic and deprived us of our dignity as a state said the fearless, arm-chair warrior Angelides who attacked the UN (safe, vote-winning target) and government for failing to make an issue of the matter. Angelides’ law office gets a lot of business from public parasites appealing to the Supreme Court against promotion decisions, which is why he exhausts his undoubted political courage campaigning about words.
THE TWO big trade union federations PEO and SEK have finally decided to stop their support for the parasites’ union PASYDY. They are no longer publicly backing the latter’s campaign to preserve its members’ privileges as they had been doing until recently.
The bosses of the two federations had to change tack, after pressure from their members, whose average pay is a fraction of the salaries collected by the privileged parasites, not to mention all the other benefits. PEO and SEK workers, quite rightly, were outraged that their federations were defending the privileges of the labour aristocracy.
Hadjipetrou has been more hysterically aggressive since the withdrawal of PEO and SEK from his anti-capitalist front, which he so successfully sold to the comrade and persuaded him not to touch the privileges. Now the miserable cry-baby is on his own he is turning nastier. A few days ago, he said that if the there were pay cuts for the parasites then all workers should have their wages cut by the same percentage.
This awful man who defends greed and privilege now wants to punish the lowest paid workers because their unions no longer support his parasites’ right to carry on sucking our blood.
WHEN it comes to defending privileges our political elite is as slimy as the parasites. After the outcry caused by Politis’ revelations about the multiple pensions collected by politicians and state officials the government did two things.
It sent a circular to the Social Insurance Department ordering staff not to release information about pension payments because it was a violation of personal data. The release of info also made people furious about the social injustice but this was not mentioned in the circular.
It also drafted a law, which puts an end to multiple pensions in the future. Those collecting 10 or 12 grand a month in multiple state pensions would carry on doing so because the law cannot be enforced retroactively, it is claimed. What a load of rubbish. The law could cut multiple pensions immediately and let the beneficiaries appeal against it. What is the betting the draft law will ever be approved by the legislature?
The only deputy who has taken a public stand against multiple pensions was Averof. His colleagues have kept suspiciously silent.
THERE would not be such a problem if all the multiple pensioners followed the example set by the former minister and Central Bank Governor Ttooulis Ttoouli, who takes about 12 grand a month in pensions. As he explained on the Lazarus bash-patriotic radio, he paid taxes on the amount and gave a sizable chunk of the remainder to needy people. He always was a Mother Teresa, but not all multiple-pensioners are as charitable and caring.
COMRADE Tof appears to be in complete denial about the Cyprob deadline set by Ban Ki-moon. He still has not grasped that everything would be over if by January there was no agreement and is behaving as if he has all the time in the world. On Wednesday, his advisor Yiorkos Iacovou met his TC counterpart Kudret Ozersay to discuss “how the two sides interpreted what Ban said to the two leaders in New York”.
This is an ingenious ploy. The comrade will go to Geneva in January to ask Ban for an extension to the talks because there were fundamental disagreements between the two sides over the interpretation of what was said to them. The cause of the problem was that Tof had been given a Turkish translation of what Ban said and Eroglu a Greek one.
At least the CyBC reported some good Cyprob news this week. In the discussion of Ban’s report at the UN Security Council, the Russian representative asked a question about the content. With Russia asking the questions we have nothing to fear even if the use of the word ‘south’ was not raised.
WE PROMISED to respond to the sanctimonious letter written against our establishment by the holier than thou feminists of the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies, who are on a mission to eliminate prostitution in Kyproulla, but we ran out of space last week.
This week there is plenty of space, but I promise not to waste too much of it responding to the pious MIGS mob. Some things need to be said because a couple of weeks ago the zealous anti-prostitution campaigners were at a House committee meeting arguing in favour of a law that would make the purchase of sexual services a criminal offence.
In their letter, the MIGS do-gooders resorted to the tactic favoured by all moral bullies to discredit anyone who does not share their puritanical ideas – guilt creation. If you do not embrace their worthy cause, you must be a terrible human being who supports trafficking, the sexual exploitation of children and forced prostitution of Third World women.
All I said and will repeat is that there are women who freely choose to work as prostitutes and the moral zealots of MIGS have no right to make their choice a criminal offence. And please don’t tell me that the lady who charged Wayne Rooney a thousand quid for a night of fun and then sold her story to the papers was a victim of prostitution and trafficking.
There are women for whom prostitution is a better job than cleaning toilets, collecting garbage and nursing the elderly. Come to think of it, I would rather sell sexual services than write this column for a living, but unfortunately there is no demand for miserable, middle-aged men past their best on the streets and in the bars of Kyproulla.
Well, I hope that also answers the MIGS claim that “those who vigorously defend prostitution as a career choice do not in fact want it for themselves, their children, their wives, etc.” I would hate for my children to become lawyers, but I am not demanding that practising law should become a criminal offence.
WITH Christmas approaching, I thought I would read Michalis Ignatiou’s Sunday column in Phil, just in case he mentioned whether the book he promised to write about the millions of bucks paid to Cypriots by the US to support the A-plan in 2004 would be in bookshops any time soon.
There are several people I do not like I wanted to send it to as a Christmas present. But there was no mention of the publication date of the book, which we have been eagerly awaiting for the last four years. I am starting to believe he misinformed us when, two years ago, he said the book was finished and had been sent to his lawyers for approval before going to the printers.
Reading the column was not a complete waste of time as the self-important Ig responded to the part of Ban Ki-moon’s report which claimed hacks were misinforming the public about the UN peace procedure. There was misinformation because Big Bad Al had chosen a group of “disreputable journalists to misinform the people” instead of reputable hacks like Ig, who accurately and precisely inform the people.
Misinforming us about the book he supposedly wrote does not count.
THE POOR old Ig’s delusions of self-importance have taken worrying proportions. Apart from having a go at the ‘weak-willed’ Ban, the ‘deceitful’ Al and the comrade for ‘punishing’ hacks, in the column’s footnote he made a direct plea to Big Bad Al.
He wrote: “Alexandre, what is required, here and now, is the restoration of Miss Sonia, who was blameless, because as you know, approval for the leaking of your documents and the ‘shooting’ of your politician and journalist friends came from very high up. And do not seize the opportunity by the hair and claim that the leaking of your documents had anything to do with the thousands that were found in hands of the WikiLeaks people. We two, although we never had a chat, understand each other…”
This is just too dumb to even qualify as misinformation. As for the idea that Big Bad Al understands Ig (why would he want to understand him?), is it because great minds think alike? Al, I am certain, would take the self-regarding Ig’s assertion as a compliment.
COULD you believe that windbag House President Marios Garoyian could “choose any woman he wanted”? This is a question for the ladies, but in my not so humble opinion, I do not think he could because he does not strike me as a male sex symbol. He is not exactly a George Clooney or Brad Pitt.
His gorgeous new wife Rodica is certain that he could and said so in a heart-warming and sincere interview she gave to Must magazine. She said: “He could pick any woman he wanted. He could have kept his marriage (to his previous wife) and had a parallel relationship – not with me – with whoever he wanted, as a lot of men do. But he behaved like a gentleman and was correct in everything he did.”
Asked if she realised that many women would like to be in her place, Mrs Garoyian said, “I would be lying if I said no.” After extolling her hubby’s many virtues she concluded: “I am certain, if they knew what sort of man Marios really is, many more women would want to be in my place.”
Mrs Garoyian showed some restraint when asked to describe her hubby as a man. “If I describe him using the words I want to, I think many women would be jealous. He is the man of every woman’s dreams.”
You would never have guessed by just looking at him.
