Sad articles from Greece

I thought you might be interested in the plight of those who cannot afford heating in Greece http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/20...burn-wood-and-chat-about-the-heating-problem/ this led to this http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_17/01/2013_479087
Sorry to be a bit despondent as I sit in warmth and relative comfort by my stove.

This will be in the Asn Can in 5 4 3 2 1.

how terrible...this is a tragic situation...I was stationed on Cyprus and visited Athens a couple of times, worked with a lot of Greek sailors on merchant ships and I really like these wonderful people...I feel for them...

Sorry don't know what this means, please explain?

You did nothing wrong and it's a great article, I think this thread will get political very quickly and end up in the Ash Can where we talk politics.

Oh I see, I did not mean to be in any way contentious it's just that some people have absolutely no choice in the matter of what and when to burn and I sympathise with their plight. Many people here have had their electricity cut off because they cannot pay and cannot afford to buy oil for heating because the price has increased by 50% due to additional taxes. Oil suppliers are going out of business because of the high cost of their product so as a tax enhancer it was a bit like shooting yourself in the foot.

It is sad. It unfortunately also illustrates that as much as we love it, wood heat can't work for entire populations.

Did when we lived in caves!

At 1 /100000 the size of modern populations.

If the population had high efficient stoves and burned proper wood it could be done. But as many other discussions have shown. Most people will never learn.

A few companies here in Maine are embracing that type of thinking . . . promoting whole home pellet furnaces and boilers and then providing bulk delivery into large hoppers.

Nor do I want the entire population to heat with wood. If they did most of us would have to find yet another alternative to heating as wood pricing would skyrocket and scrounging would be nearly impossible.

I do not generally read Greek language, but this article is worth looking at for the photos:
http://www.alphafm.gr/archives/61184

It basically shows the Greek/Albanian wood smugglers using their mules for transport. Ingenious, but I believe these were confiscated by the gov't.

I had a friend return from visiting family in Greece 2 weeks ago. He said the city folks are in bad shape; farmers somewhat better. (Our friends were farmers and had always burned wood for cooking and heating.)

Yes, so it seems here where most of us have access to some wood and a piece of land with trees. This article may be of interest to you http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/20...burn-wood-and-chat-about-the-heating-problem/

when times are hard people tend to revert to wood burning (or "anything burning") i have sympathy for those folks over in Greece. (could get really political right now but its too obvious to even start) shame that people have to resort to obviously inefficient wood burning practices to stay warm.

IMHO hard times tend to cause people to "revert to type" notice the "wood scalpers" mentioned. supply and demand is a harsh system sometimes, particularly in hard times. the real question though is , will the Greeks respond with more than austerity , with an actual national ethos that they should have better, should work to have better, accept that they are in a mess as a country, but have a deep culture steeped in democracy and attack the issues which face them as a people with this heritage, or will they succumb to the immediate which saps the will to make a better place. Greece needs badly to find their roots, to re-realize "citizen government" to rekindle democracy.

Hello Begreen, certainly do live most of the time in the Outer Mani, Peloponnese, where our holiday home is rapidly becoming my permanent home.

What is a tone in reference to buying wood? How us buying in cubic meters a rip off, wouldn't that be like buying a cord?
About 3.5 cubic meters to a cord.

Hello begreen Patrick died at the age of 96 in the last couple of years and his secluded house in Kalamitsi between Kardamili and Stoupa which is where my house is, has been left to the nation for as a writers' retreat. The views all around from the rocky little beach in front of the house are spectacular looking up to the foothills of the Taygetos mountains which at the moment are tipped with snow. The film Ill met by Moonlight is based on his wartime experiences on the island of Crete, by the way.

i have no idea what a cord is or what a ton of wood looks like but I was told by a Greek lady yesterday that a ton of wood would cost 200€. Very much more than the cost last year. Yet again we have another article on the cost of heating and the problems encountered with poorly ventilated houses and presumably wet wood http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite6_1_24/01/2013_480138

Seems like selling wood by the ton would be an incentive to sell it as wet as possible. Every day it seasons reduces the seller's income. Might be part of their smoke problem.
I will roughly estimate that a ton is about a half cord, but would vary greatly by species.

I have not kept up with this in recent years, but do Greeks still smoke Marlboros like mad? (Stella, that's tobacco smoking). If so, the Medical Association quotes in that news article seem a bit empty.