Greece Watch...

raspberry-blower · Post by **raspberry-blower** » 08 May 2016, 14:40

In case you buried your head in the sand while it was unfolding:

Michael Krieger: 95% of Greek "bailout" money went to the banks

AutomaticEarth · Post by **AutomaticEarth** » 08 May 2016, 22:42

Athens blowing up:

https://www.rt.com/news/342298-greece-p ... rity-vote/

The IMF admits that austerity measures will not reduce the Greek debt. Even Vicki Price admitted this on Al Jazeera earlier.

On top of that, you've got large-scale immigration to Greece - a double whammy. It makes you wonder how much the Greeks can take?

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 01 Aug 2016, 23:26

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/comm ... evealed_at

“She came from Greece / She had a thirst for knowledge.” So starts “Common People,” the epic 1995 song by Pulp that combined a glam/arena aesthetic, punk rock vitriol, and a nuanced understanding of the lived experience of class-based resentment that even Thorstein Veblen would envy.

The entire song is structured as an obliterating rebuke to a female Greek student who claims to “want to live like common people,” with the sly, cutting afterthought “like you.” Along the way, the narrator (or the song’s writer, Jarvis Cocker, if you prefer) succeeds in utterly dismantling the unnamed Greek woman’s blithe acceptance of class inequities, reminding her that when the project of pretending to live your life “with no meaning or control” gets too unpleasant, what with roaches climbing the wall and all, “if you call your Dad he could stop it all” but also emphasizing the authenticity that “common people” have that she never will; she is “amazed that they exist” and “burn so bright.” The song is the third track on Pulp’s breakthrough album Different Class.

It seems that the identity of the woman who inspired the Britpop classic may have been revealed on a Greek website—none other than video and installation artist Danae Stratou, who is also married to Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.

johnhemming2 · Post by **johnhemming2** » 01 Aug 2016, 23:34

The has been around as a thought for some time, but is irrelevant.

Varoufakis is an idiot because he completely failed to understand how things actually work and hence caused massive problems for ordinary greek citizens.

He did not intend to make a complete mess, but he had a theory that did not correlate adequately with reality.

Much like Jeremy Corbyn.

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 01 Aug 2016, 23:52

johnhemming2 wrote:The has been around as a thought for some time, but is irrelevant.

Irrelevant?

It is quite interesting if that song is quite important to you. And it is to me, for musical, lyrical, cultural and political reasons. Not your sort of music maybe, and not the right generation, but Common People was in my opinion the defining track of the "Britpop" cultural phenomenon. If I was on Desert Island Disks, this would be one of my selections.

johnhemming2 · Post by **johnhemming2** » 02 Aug 2016, 08:55

How does it affect your views of varoufakis and why. It is one of the songs that I am asked to play, but I don't see how it should impact on varoufakis.

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 02 Aug 2016, 09:38

johnhemming2 wrote:How does it affect your views of varoufakis and why. It is one of the songs that I am asked to play, but I don't see how it should impact on varoufakis.

It doesn't affect my views of Varoufakis. To be honest I don't have particularly strong views about Varoufakis. I just came across this factoid and thought it was interesting because the song is an important one to me personally.

Post by **adam2** » 14 Dec 2016, 23:52

Latest Greek bailout payment in doubt.
As government propose to pay Christmas bonus to pensioners.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38318360

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 16 Dec 2016, 10:16

Varoufakis's plans failed because of realpolitik*. The very last thing he is is an idiot. The term applies to those that don't recognise such.

*realpolitik = bullying

johnhemming2 · Post by **johnhemming2** » 16 Dec 2016, 19:31

He tried to persuade the germans and other europeans to give the greeks more money without them having to do anything that would work to pay it back. That was not clever. I would said it was idiotic. It resulted in the cashpoints being switched off for a while.

Little John · Post by **Little John** » 16 Dec 2016, 21:34

You are a lying bullshitter John Hemming because you do not place anything in its wider context. And I am certain you do this quite deliberately.

The German banking system lent massive amounts to the Greek banking system when it was clear to anyone but a madman that these debts were not sustainable. Not least, because German banking regulations forbade them from being so reckless in their own country. When it all went tits up in 2008, the German-driven EU state then pumped massive amounts of further debt, this time onto the Greek state, who then promptly put it into the Greek banking system to stop it collapsing so that it could continue to service its debt to the German banking system. The Greek state is only able to service this new debt to the EU state by impoverishing its own people. Thus, the Greek people are being economically crushed in order that the German banking system does not collapse. And the rest of the major EU and capitalist world powers are quite content to go along with this murder of a country masquerading as fiscal rectitude because they know that it will help to stop the recklessness of their own banking systems from being exposed.

johnhemming2 · Post by **johnhemming2** » 16 Dec 2016, 21:38

Why if you are right were the greek cashpoints switched off. The answer is that the greeks wanted more money from the other countries and they (the other countries) were not willing to pay it until the Greeks took actions on things like not having a special tax deal for certain islands etc.

Whereas it is arguable that the Greeks were not sufficiently challenged when they over spent and borrowed money up to 2008, it remains that they asked for more money.

Post by **adam2** » 23 May 2017, 12:56

Latest bailout in doubt
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40005503

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 24 May 2017, 09:38

"economic reforms"

Media gloss.