Tuesday 15 November 2016

Obamaday

This morning at 11 oclock Airforce One carrying almost-ex President Obama of the United States of America landed at Eleftherios Venizelos Airport, Athens Greece.    Historical moment bla bla bla.  He is the 4th president to have visited Greece:  Eisenhower ('we' had a king and queen back then), Bush the 1st (who visited again later on his huge luxury yacht) and Clinton (with Hilary and Chelsea) .  Obama has come 'by himself', no Michelle, no children, but with  500 security agents (CIA say the newspapers) and health care workers .  The 'hospital' follows him wherever he goes, by plane or limo,  in case of an accident.




Athens is sewn up as tight as a fortress.

- 24 inner city schools have closed in areas close to where he will be visiting
- over 5,000 greek police officers are on duty in the capitol
- 600 parked cars were removed by crane from streets he is driving through
- it goes without saying that all buildings along the route will have roof-top snipers ready to shoot anyone who dares to sneeze and then search his jacket for a handkerchief (another of my favourite words)
- the sea around his beachside hotel has been searched by divers and now has a fleet of greek coast guard vessels sailing up and down
- all traffic around the airport was stopped while his plane landed and until he left the airport area.  No vehicle was allowed to move even a metre
- as his car moves through the city all tele/satellite communications are shut down using sofisticated CIA equipment
- buses, trains and trams have stopped from noon till 4pm
- Obama travels in an armoured Cadillac named 'the beast'.  It can stand up to rocket attacks and bombs and like Pepe La Pew can emit teargas ( stink gas in his case) At the end of its life the car is blown up to destroy it's secrets
- along with the beast which is flown in from the US come around 50 other vehicles which form the official motorcade





- the president will visit the Acropolis which he says 'he wanted to visit ever since he was a child'
- he will attend a state dinner and no doubt we'll be given a run down of the menu and what he ate and didn't eat by misguided tv gossip reporters
- he has already met and talked with our tie-less Prime Minister


On Wednesday he flies off to Germany to greet Frau Merkel and then continues on to Peru for an Asian economic summit (with Pacific Rim powers).



Down in my other homeland, The Shaky Isles, we had another first, the first US warship to enter NZ waters in 33 years.  

The massive 7.5 earthquake was centred around the South Island town of Kaikoura where thousands of tourists gather to whale watch. Sperm whales feed off this coastline all the year round. As well as the sperm whale you may sight  Humpback whales, blue whales, Pilot whales, Southern Right whales, NZ fur seals, Dusky dolphins, an Albatross or an Orca.  No wonder there were about 1000 tourists, many of them chinese, trapped after the earthquake-s.  Access roads around the town were closed by landslides cutting it off from the rest of the country .

Along came the cavalry to sail them to safety.  

 In 1985 NZ banned any nuclear armed or powered ship from entering their waters.  The US decided not to send any of their ships for the next 33 years in reprisal for the kiwis anti-nuclear policy. 

 A fleet of international warships had already gathered for the 75th Anniversary of the Royal NZ  Navy.  
Now the USS Sampson, the Canadian HMCS Vancouver and the Australian warship  HMAS Darwin are sailing down to Kaikoura to help, along with a few NZ navy ships (we do actually have a Navy in spite of rumours to the contrary from across the Tasman sea).



If you saw the photo of the three cows stranded on a tiny grassy outcrop rest assured that they have now been rescued and PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) says the cows should be allowed to retire. 








8 comments:

  1. We saw the picture of the stranded cows and we are glad to read they are OK. Wish everybody banned nuclear armed or powered ships and planes.

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  2. Don't you just love how everyone gets inconvenienced just because of one man. I know. He is the leader of the free world and all but OMG.
    When he was here it was such a shock to us Aussies
    Our PM's just walk around normal
    Even Oprah Winfrey was apparently scared walking down the street with then PM Juillia. No Oprah. We are not gun toting rednecks here.
    I remember when NZ said no to nuclear weapons. I was so proud of them. And so sad that Australia didn't follow.
    The earthquakes have continued across the ditch. And apparently they now have flooding due to torrential rains.
    So very sad.

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    1. Who cares about him now. The world has another target! Absolutely f****in incredible the amount of preparation that must have gone into this 36 hr visit, the money that must have been spent, by Greece too, who has so little....and it happens everywhere he goes! NZ is having a terrible time with all these earthquakes. Wonder how many will be leaving for a steadier Australia?

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  3. Wow, that's a lot of precautions, it must cost him a fortune to travel anywhere! Those poor cows, we saw them on the news, glad they're safe xx

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    1. It costs him a fortune, but I bet it cost Greece a small fortune as well...the equivalent of next month pension payout probably which is why we're having more damn cuts

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  4. Obama must think he's god's gift to the world. As far as most of are concerned he's just another politician. But I suppose any one of the 2.5 million people he's deported from the US might hold a grudge.

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    1. Burning the American flag is all that will happen here, plus a few hooligans rioting last night. I wonder if Putin had as much security on his visit. Obama lives daily in fear of his life. No wonder presidents go grey so quickly....we could without his visit for sure. I wonder about the politics behind it all. He didn't come here just to see the acropolis

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