Back in 2003 when I just arrived here in Crete, at a time where 64Kbps ISDN was called “broadband”, I couldn’t really afford to spend too much time hanging out on the internet. I just made short connections to download my e-mail and my newsgroup subscription (anybody remember newsgroups?) and uploaded my pre-written postings to this blog. Then I would disconnect as fast as I could. Leisurely reading news sites was out of the question, even if I was dying for some English language news about this country. Then RSS and the newsreaders became popular and I was saved. Over the years I have gathered a big collection of news sources to which I subscribe. I don’t always manage to actually read them, but it’s a comforting feeling to know that they are there when I need them. Except that the only 2 good sources of English news in Greece, www.ekathimerini.com and www.athensnews.gr didn’t offer any RSS syndication. So I forgot about them.

These days, with my (scaled-back from 24Mbps but still potent at 4Mbps) ADSL connection I’m of course always online and can go and visit any site and linger there for as long as I want. Except I don’t. The habit of using RSS has kind of spoilt it for me I guess. It’s so much easier. But eKathimerini and Athens News still don’t offer an RSS feed to their articles. I don’t understand why not. ERT does offer an RSS feed, but I have already given you my opinion on the quality of ERT here and here. I won’t dwell on that. In one of these referenced articles I couldn’t help but also sneer at an article from eKathimerini. I’m going to partially retract that comment. Since that moment I’ve been back at eKathimerini several times and found some of their articles informative, well written and pointedly introspective. And light on sensationalist visual material. Here are some random quotes from today’s issue:

No one can take a country seriously in which people are allowed to play with the master switch and go unpunished. Wiped off the map, again

It’s like the gunslingers of Zoniana complaining about the Greek police choosing not to hold a conference in the mountains of Crete. The asylum of the fittest

After all, we make sure we punish our country on a daily basis in a manner that exceeds that of our angry allies or enemies. Put some pressure on us, please

The issue of domestic violence continues to be one of the great taboos in Greek society. Battling a hidden epidemic of child abuse

Good articles, a bit on the short side maybe, lacking in-depth background information (though that could be because they’re summaries in English, my own fault, should have learned Greek faster than I did), but written in an English that is far better than mine (as it should be). Still a shame they don’t have RSS. If you want to keep up to date with what’s going on in Greek society and don’t mind going to their website everyday, there are much worse places to get your daily dose. No, I won’t mention them again.