November 17: Athens Polytechnic Institute uprising anniversary, and other news
Today is November 17th. This means that, in addition to being my friend Ruth’s birthday (Happy Birthday, Ruth!), it’s the anniversary of major student demonstrations against the Greek junta, back in 1973 (the junta fell some months after that, in 1974). As is customary, there are large demonstrations in major Greek cities like Athens and Thessaloniki, advance warnings by the US embassy for tourists to be careful around large demonstrations, and Tweets from Greece like
Off out to the 17th November march in Thessaloniki, “I Predict a Riot” LaLaLa,
OK, Twitter’s too new for me to yet call it an established Greek custom, but I suppose it’s in the spirit of the day. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou laid a wreath yesterday at the memorial for students killed in the November 17, 1973 protests, in advance of today’s marches. Meanwhile, the Greek Health Minister got vaccinated against swine flu, in a bid to encourage reluctant citizens.
Czechs are also demonstrating today, celebrating the fall of Communism twenty years ago.
Today is also the day when the Congressional Budget Office is supposed to release its scoring of the Senate health reform bill, at which point the six centrist and conservative Democratic Senators are supposed to show their hands. SteveBruskCNN reported on Twitter last night that Senator Ben Nelson, the swing vote who has been pressing for an amendment similar to the Stupak Amendment, is saying that he’ll accept language less restrictive than the House bill (just how much less restrictive, I don’t know, not having been able to find anything on this beyond the one Tweet). Sebellius says that she expects the Senate to pass the health care reform bill in December.
A Zambian journalist has been acquitted of pornography charges after sending officials pictures of a woman giving birth in a hospital car park. The photograph had been sent as a protest against the paralyzing effect on hospitals of a strike.
Germany has arrested two top Rwandan rebels on suspicion of war crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Here’s an interview with Ray Romano about the upcoming “Men of a Certain Age” TNT series, in which he and Scott Bakula and Andre Braugher will star.
Finally, I’m stealing my sister’s Delicious link, Tips for Breaking Bad Habits and Developing Good Habits.