You reap what you sow

Any tangible expression of anger in Greece, however extreme it may be, is usually described with the more palatable term of "intervention." Rather than calling a spade a spade, authorities are going for a more innocuous term.

The destruction of public or private property, attacks on all sorts of perceived symbols of the establishment and the state, protest raids on state buildings and other such phenomena are all covered by the term.

The government is prone to turning a blind eye to such "interventions" and sometimes it actually encourages them. But with riots and clashes in Athens becoming ever more frequent, it seems that the chickens are coming home to roost.

At the moment, the government finds itself in a competition - with party organizations and factions, among others - to prove its revolutionary credentials. Will it lose face among its revolutionary peers...