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http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0508/riotdog-icon-greek-protest-movement/ ‘Riot-Dog’: Protest pooch becomes icon of Greek solidarity By Stephen C. Webster Saturday, May 8th, 2010 -- 3:52 pm Revolutionary-era Americans had the "Join or Die" snake. Iran's green revolution rallied around the death of Neda Agha-Soltan. Ukraine's orange revolution exploded after the poisoning of Victor Yushchenko. In a Greece struggling amidst the throes of draconian, IMF-led budgetary cutbacks, another symbol of revolution is rising. They call him either "Riot-Dog" or "Rebel-Dog", depending on the source. With a national debt topping 300 billion Euros, a looming EU-IMF bailout at $140 billion or more and frequent rioting over the country's agreement to a massive austerity plan, the pooch seems to be gaining traction among protesters as an image of solidarity. The canine's real name is Kanellos and, according to published accounts, he's acquired quite a taste for civil unrest, having made an appearance at virtually every major Greek protest and riot over the last two years. Kanellos has cropped up in photos taken by news agencies spanning the globe, including Agence France-Presse, Reuters, Getty Images, the Associated Press and others. Thanks to his seemingly ubiquitous presence in the streets and the images of chaos in which he's participated, "Riot-Dog" is gaining fans quickly. For one, a "Riot-Dog" fan page on Facebook was on the threshold of 10,000 friends at time of this writing. A Greek Tumblr page dedicated to "Rebel Dog" features a long series of photos showing Kanellos' exploits in the midst of recent unrest. He was even the subject of his own photo feature in The Guardian UK. Similar posts appeared on Democrat blog network DailyKos, BuzzFeed and This Blog Rules in recent days. Then, there's a video uploaded to YouTube on March 11, 2010 that shows Kanellos fearlessly running up to and harrying riot police atop motorcycles as they blockade a street, wagging his tail the whole way. His portion runs from 1:30 - 2:20 in the clip below. He is also the source of several musical tributes on YouTube, featuring loads of Greek text and numerous photos of Kanellos plunging headlong into the contested streets. "This dog has been in the streets more times than the entire 'progressive' movement combined," Kos blogger RenderQT scoffed, noting his photo spread was a tribute to "the Greek Dog of Protest." "Can we get a little less fiscal reporting (boring) and a little more Riot Dog reporting"? BuzzFeed added. There is some reasonable doubt about Kanellos's identity, with some suggesting that images circulating of the "Riot-Dog" are actually two different yet similar-looking pooches with the same proclivities for protest. "While one can't be certain that it's the same pooch at every protest — Athens is something of a magnet for street-savvy stray dogs — this mutt does sport a distinctive blue collar, which may indicate that, while he's a stray, he's also current on his shots," noted Yahoo News contributor Brett Michael Dykes. With the country in urgent need of nine billion euros (11 billion dollars) by May 19 to service existing debt, Greek PM George Papandreou reported with relief early Saturday that rescue funds would arrive within days. "In the following days, Greece will receive the first tranche of the 110 billion euros from the EU and the IMF," Papandreou said after an emergency late-night summit of euro leaders in Brussels. "This will allow us to implement our (austerity) programme and our reforms," he underlined. Politics nonwithstanding, the symbol of Kanellos, the Greek dog of protest -- be he one stray or two -- has given an entirely new meaning to the act of "hounding" the police. [interesting comment:] Unlike the US progressive movement Riot Dog Kanellos (and his avatars) isn't all bark, no bite. President Obama is decrying iPods and XBoxes instead of his own failures to stop mimicking Bush at every turn. He decries the educational gaps between blacks and other Americans yet has a hack from Chicago heading his Education Department and is doing little to improve the living conditions of the majority of black Americans or working-class or poor Americans for that matter, instead pushing neoliberal options at every turn. Wall Street wins, black people and everyone else suffers. He promised to bring the troops home from Iraq and close Gitmo, to have a public insurance health option and to fight against offshore drilling, to bring down unemployment and stop the volcano of foreclosures. Instead he's done the exact opposite on every turn. The problem isn't technology, it's apathy and two major parties that betray the people at every turn. Maybe all of us, including Obama, need to learn something from Riot Dog. Some photos: http://www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=609da4bbb71e26b90465f7beea65c6ff&#!/photo.php?pid=12293326&op=1&o=global&view=global&subj=112204342124708&id=569795636 http://www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=609da4bbb71e26b90465f7beea65c6ff&#!/photo.php?pid=148622&op=1&o=global&view=global&subj=112204342124708&id=100000669431256 http://www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=609da4bbb71e26b90465f7beea65c6ff&#!/photo.php?pid=5318529&op=2&o=global&view=global&subj=112204342124708&id=526145959 ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
