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Monte Carlo

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Everything posted by Monte Carlo

  1. Monte Carlo
    So the British government is stoopid too? Point not found.
  2. Monte Carlo
  3. Monte Carlo
    Obama show-boating, trying to leave a foreign policy legacy. And leaving it for the next schmuck to clean-up. I know Dubya left him a boatload of crap to shovel, but this one has the potential to be even more toxic.
  4. Monte Carlo
    We can blame the bat-**** crazy Greek hive mind and, of course, the cretins who thought it was a great idea to allow Club Med into the euro in the first place.
  5. Monte Carlo
    ^ A bunch of Greek student union marxists decided to play poker with grown-ups and lost. It really is that simple.
  6. Monte Carlo
    Same in the UK. Kids are full of utter nonsense, everything is an 'ism.'
  7. Monte Carlo
    Answer me this: Greece gets a package to restructure debt that, in effect, allows Spain and Portugal to default and demand the same. EDIT - and stay in the Euro. How do you manage northern Europe and the political reality that Germans, French, Dutch and others have to work harder and pay more taxes so southern Europe can keep on electing student politicians, retiring early and taking siestas? Who is going to vote for pro-European parties? Why would they? Club Med shouldn't be in the Euro. OK, my politics dictate that nobody should be in the Euro, but if you're gonna have one you need analogous economies to share a currency.
  8. Monte Carlo
    I've found that it's harder to take sides if you stop treating countries as individuals and applying the same logic. "Greece" cannot renege on or pay its debts because it's an abstract entity, not a person, and it cannot act or make decisions. And once you begin digging into what is owed, to whom, why, and under what circumstances were those debts contracted, the issue becomes very muddled. Hell, even considering "Greeks" as a whole is silly, because you are lumping together an unskilled burger flipper that puts in 60 hours a week in two jobs for a pittance, an old lady that has to make do with a 400€ pension, and Papandreou. Should the debt be repaid in full? Does it matter? It's all make-believe anyway... that's the real issue IMO. But countries are entities. Your argument is a de facto off-the-hook piece of theory crafting. Bottom line - Greece, the country, made up of voters and politicians, happily accepted truckloads of EU cash from Northern Europe. They squandered it. They don't want to pay it back. As there is no shared European demos, not unnaturally the creditors are pissed off. How that debt is structured and how fairly it's applied is another issue altogether. But the crux of the matter is that nation-states are responsible for collective economic decisions made by their government.
  9. Monte Carlo
    http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2015/07/where-is-the-affection-for-greece/ The always readable Ed West on Greece. To whit - Good point. I'm conflicted myself and find myself torn. On the one hand, Greece reneging on its debts is wrong. It rewards sloth and corruption. On the other, the EUs treatment of Greece is quasi-imperial, larded with self-interest. I'm a Hobbesian realist who also agrees with JSM. Hmmm. What do you think?
  10. Monte Carlo
    http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2015/07/does-anybody-still-believe-that-the-eu-is-a-benign-institution/ A view from the sensible Left by Nick Cohen. Apart from the bollocks that the single currency is Right Wing (Nick, bless him, seems to have a limited understanding of liberal economics in the classic sense), this is an excellent analysis from the other side of [my] ideological fence. I'm increasingly of the view that the EU must have a stake driven through it's heart, before it tears the continent asunder. Ironically, the Germans are finding themselves, once again, over-dominant. Euromarks instead of Panzers, austerity instead of Anschluss.
  11. Monte Carlo
    I still stand by my Venezuela / dictatorship theory. Marxist's gonna Marxist.
  12. Monte Carlo
    She was also in Red Alert 3.
  13. Monte Carlo
    Malcador's lingerie recognition skills deserve some kudos. I have identified this babe as none other than Gemma Atkinson who is from the Blessed Plot. It's not as if the USA is short of attractive babes of their own to turn into bird-of-prey themed patriotic memes, is it?
  14. Monte Carlo
    I'm watching this live. I was at the Berlin Wall in 1989, wow that was a night (didn't see the Hoff there, btw) and this has a similar sort of epoch-moment feel to it. Wish I was in Athens. Edit - lots of people are calling a 'No' atm.
  15. Monte Carlo
    Not really, unless you want to count external groups like Cuba and Latin America. The Weathermen, KKK, Black Panthers, NoI (etc) never enjoyed access to government in the same way November 17 did (and might still do) in Greece.
  16. Monte Carlo
    ^ I am aroused by an eagle-headed woman.
  17. Monte Carlo
    Greece has a history of mainstream parties maintaining back-channels to terrorist groups. N17 and the Left springs to mind. I'm sure GD also has its people on the Right too. The country has a sad history of dictatorship and political instability, allegedly banished by their participation in the EU.
  18. Monte Carlo
    Sorry Sarex, Russia is broke. Tspiras has already visited the Kremlin with the begging bowl and came back with very little. Sanctions are biting Putin's crew atm. I know, being Serbian, you are likely to have a more positive view of Russia, but I don't see them stumping up the sort of cash Greece owes the IMF on any sort of terms.
  19. Monte Carlo
    Russia can't afford it. The Middle East has other, more pressing concerns. Maybe China, but you seen what's coming down their economic track?
  20. Monte Carlo
    Magic Eight ball says Martial Law by the end of the year. Greece becomes Venezuela-on-the-Med.
  21. Monte Carlo
    Zoraptor, this really, really isn't about the UK. I'm sitting pretty, thanks, because we didn't join the Euro. In the context of the current situation, that's the most salient point. The Blair / Brown axis was a disaster for my country, but compared to the Greek scenario they were demi-gods of fiscal probity. That's what we're talking about. BTW, Iceland / UK comparisons? *really?* You can do better than that. Yeah, that Reykjavik world financial hub was a real issue during their default Edit: And Janet Daley nails it... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/11718083/Greece-referendum-syriza-tsipras-eurozone-crisis-euro.html
  22. Monte Carlo
    Pao should take all her colleagues to court for something. It's the logical decision.
  23. Monte Carlo
    Yes or no, do people realise Greece badly needs a new government prepared to rebuild the economy on solid fiscal principles? As long as you've got Syriza, you're screwed. But if they get replaced by more nutcases you'll be even more screwed.
  24. Monte Carlo
    ^ Keep the posts coming Melkathi, am really interested in what Greeks are thinking and what they're going through atm.
  25. Monte Carlo
    Happy Independence Day, treacherous rebel scum. Hey, talking of Independence Day, here's one from 1996...
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