gsis help us...

It is no joke and by no means a wordgame of my invention. It is the portal of the Greek taxation system through wich we apply for all kinds of government programs and subsidies. It is in the news all the time, to apply for exemption from the new property tax or to apply for a partial return on heating oil tax we do not go to the "taxisnet" portal but simply type gsis in our search engines instead. So I say Gsis help us with our tax exemptions before the troika and the IMF take away our food, our homes, our lives. As for all you born again freaks who may think this is some kind of end day other Jesus prophecy being fulfilled I say to you that my eternal soul belongs only to me and is not a commodity that can be traded. My life though I am worried about.
ps. gsis- general secretary of information - again not a play on words on my behalf or a reference to the ministry of information from the movie BRAZIL. One thing is for sure, since banks started running the world the only people that get any government handouts are the ones that can prove they don't need it. Just like a bank loan eh!

Merkel Athens Visit

It will go down in history as the MAV and hence the title for the article. Nobody could ever expect such a turn around in public opinion but since the latest Troika report we should have expected this outcome. Thousands upon thousands of Athenians flooded the streets of the Greek capital to welcome their heroe with an unprecedented shower of rose petals. The overwhelming feelings of love and adoration that flowed from the crowds to their new Messiah Merkel could not be disguised, withheld or thwarted in any way. It is the least show of respect to the Lady of Loon who singlehandedly slashed our national debt in half and put us, as a nation back on the road of fiscal responsibility. So what if a handful of lunatics could not handle the heat, three thousand in fact, and took their own life. So what if schoolchildren have been going hungry and fainting during lunchbreak. So what if souplines and handouts are the new tools of survival for the unemployed. The bottom line is that Merkel has turned around this country of egomaniac macho southerners and put the heart back into Christianity. This of course could not stop the thousands of kamakia who lined the streets waiting for a chance to hit on the woman that awoke their desire. Merkel is the new muse that has inspired the youth of Greece to return to recreational sex. This is after all a strange and mixed up world when a state leader pays a visit to drive the final nail into the coffin of a nation. MAV 2012 it is then and do come again my dear...

End Days

The Jinx guide to survival in the New Age of Fascism states it clearly, always be a member of the majority. That is simply the way fascism works. There is no tolerance for small splinter groups or minorities. You can get away with anything if you are a member of a strong majority, however if you are a member of a visible minority you will be victimized. Do not blame members of Golden Dawn for their actions. It is perfectly logical for them to destroy somebodies livelihood simply because they are not Greek. Worse things will folow. As a political party with 18 MPs they also enjoy clout and power and money. It is the noisy revolution of the 40 to 50 year old man and he is violent and powerless. As a party they have been gaining in the polls and may end up as a big player in the next parliament. As a group they are forceful, efficient, well organized. As individuals they are weak and without convictions or morals. In short they are extremely dangerous and due to this economic crisis a big chunk of the public supports them. The Jinx guide to survival in the New Age of Fascism states it clearly, scared individuals comprise the brave new world, proceed with extreme caution...

Mr. Mihaloliakos picured here is party president of Golden Dawn...Jinx!

Catch 22

Here we are entering the fall political season. People don't usualy see it this way but along with the new tv series and back to school specials another season opens for politicians. Every fall there is new political discussions and activity that always pushes the limits of us working folks. Then by late November our politicians feel comfortable enough to hammer out a new budget. Typically it will include things like cuts to medicare or pensions or wages and increases to things like sales tax or income tax or housing tax. There will also be little handouts to sugar the pill like a small increase to family allowance or the rent deductible. The discussions starts now in September just before Parliament opens. Prominent politicians and party leaders start giving interviews to the radio or the press to test their party line and reasoning. By mid October, the month with the most stock market crashes, everybody has drawn their lines and the trenches start appearing. In Greece this is no exaggeration. By the time December rolls up we will be into general strikes and lock downs. Somebody has to cough up 11.5 billion euros and the poor simply can't afford to pay any more. Most people are umemployed and lack the ability to pay for anything let alone new taxes. Those who still have a job have seen their incomes slashed in half while daily expenses have doubled. Striking is a big risk as there are hordes of people waiting to take your place. Doing nothing means accepting your annhilation. The rich refuse to pay for anything and consider themselves to be above the law. For years they have been covering each others back to the point that there are now over fifty thousand Greeks with deposits of over twenty billion euros in Switzerland. This is all money that has never been taxed or reported to the Greek revenue service and does not include investments in real estate and stocks along with the untaxable offshores. We are looking into a black hole for the Greek government of what must be nearly one hundred billion euros that have been extracted illegaly from the Greek economy over the last ten years. It makes sense too as we always knew that about thirty percent of our economy was "black" and now that the crunch is on politicians are starting to legislate with this money in mind. For years the paraeconomy was allowed to flourich. It was even nourished by crooked politicians on the take in a relationship that is called "customer government". The only way out of our present crisis is the abolishment of this parallel universe with its free for all logic and antisocial morality. How will its very founders who inspired it now demolish it is still to be seen. I think it is very unlikely but in this country the alternative is unthinkable. We all wait to see...

Haratsi part two... full stop

Yes sirree the captain has gone mad and pushed the control lever to full stop! That is what is about to happen to the Greek economy when the new series of across the board taxes come into effect. Our fearless Prime Minister, Andonis Samaras, promises that these will be the last painful measures and that better days are ahead. Hard to believe that stopping an economy cold will help solve any problems. The three ruling parties have spent the summer setting up a series of new laws that will go a long way to scuttling the nation's economy. They have also legislated away any of their own personal responsibility not only in the present but also in the past. Shaddy deals with big companies (the Siemens scandal), questionable real estate swaps (the Vatopedi scandal), shameful arms deals (the German listing submarine) along with an endless list of banking deals and pension plan hedging and trimming are all crimes not to be punished or investigated. The coalition government enjoys a full two thirds of parliamentary support and can do just about anything. Not one protest  or strike to resist these measures all summer long. Could it be the calm before the storm? If so then we are in for a very rough ride as a still ship is no better than a sitting duck...

Choke

To blog or not to blog, that is the modern day question. Should one get their news and information through official channels or through a more personal medium. Is it better to suffer the consequences of propaganda and missinformation or does one need a clearer view on the world. Most people are too busy with their lives to care. We live in a system that loads up the individual with responsibilities, expectations and of course all the time feeding the ego and serving us fear. Most people are nut cases suffering either from extreme neurosis or paranoia or some bipolar combination of hot and cold emotions. Every year newer and "better" consumer products along with myriad other diversions steer people clear of what they realy need in life. In the end the "succesful" ones are detached, lonely, scared and sometimes loveless individuals. In order to reach the upper echelons of this society an individual most sacrifice almost everything that they hold dear. Hollywood calls this "coming of age", a view of maturity that is so bent as to consider anything pure and unspoiled as childish. Even Satan would have a hard time coming up with such a brilliant con. How can people who have become so detached from their own emotions find their path again, how can they come back into communion and avoid the end that is reserved for despots and dictators? Relaxation I think is the key. Stepping away from assumptions and illusions to make room for a more elevated experience. After all is it really worth having an 8 billion euro surplus after having caused over 2000 suicides in a poorer and weaker nation? Is it realy that important to maintain uneven trade balances and play the bookee with an entire nation? It is all irrelevant and non-permanent so why interrupt the natural flow of things? This blogger has not the answers...

Hydra tax revolt

Turns out it wasn't a tax revolt at all just some locals reacting to the arrest of a restaurant owner. They did cut the power to the local police station and the riot police was sent as a show of force. It is all quite ridiculous realy. What is not so ridiculous is the racist inspired beatings that have been taking place. It all got out of hand after a Pakistani national raped and beat a young Greek girl on the island of Paros. The media in its infinite wisdom focused on this case and on its perpetrator. Stories in the news would go over the evidence and many times refer to the accused as already guilty. A nasty habit of the press here when one can't afford a good lawyer. A bank robbery folowed on the same island where a man was killed while trying to interfere with the robber's escape. Then some poor Irani national was murdered by six or eight bikers in Athens. A few other immigrants where beaten rather baddly as well in unrelated incidents. Then we find out the bank robbers are Greek and not "coloured" as some people where suggesting. Members of an obscure group of terrorists. Poverty, violence, Fear-long live the Troika and welcome to the west Greece.

Western dawn...

All kinds of news has transpired since the last time I wrote this blogg.

The Olympics came to a rather uneventful close with a closing ceremony that will live in infamy!

Personaly I would have preferred a closing ceremony with a huge British Bulldog float and Pink Floyd playing a selection from the final cut.I have been too busy to write any entries in my blog.Many will be glad to hear that I am silent these days.I didn't mention any of the many screw ups at the London Olympics.It would be petty to do so.I have also left all kinds of events with the IMF go without comment. Corrupt and indited officials and all kinds of dirty deals. Big news corporations that have vested interests in IMF shady deals that distort the news, wink, wink. It is time we got a grip on events.I mean a real good grip on reality and how IMF policy is bad for the economy, life expectancy and the heart.We need to open new boundaries in the relations of man and to finaly break free from the politics of greed that have enslaved us as people and marred our lives with wars and violence.Let us take a closer analytical look at our problems and possible solutions. Just because we live in the wealthy west does not always mean that we know better. After all necessity is the mother of invention and here are just some examples of how people in the good ol' USA have lived up to that motto. Here are also some examples of why not to use plastic as a part of a cars interior. Next installment I will delve a little into the dawn of violence in Greek society and its many repercussions. It is a Golden Dawn indeed. Oh and a little footnote for high treason as well. It is the only crime that can not be erased through legislation...

Olympic Opening Ceremony....

In a sense, the Olympic Games are coming home tonight. This great, sports-loving country is widely recognized as the birthplace of modern sport. It was here that the concepts of sportsmanship and fair play were first codified into clear rules and regulations. It was here that sport was included as an educational tool in the school curriculum. The British approach to sport had a profound influence on Pierre de Coubertin, our founder, as he developed the framework for the modern Olympic Movement at the close of the 19th century.

You gotta love a good Olympics opening ceremony with lots of high-tech gadgetry and Saturday night romance. I realy enjoyed watching the young coloured couple making out after the boy saves the girl's cell phone. I like the way he phones her on her cell phone that he has found and she answers! I could never have come up with that kind of miraculous continuity. "Hi I'm phoning you from the mobile you just dropped" and the girl answers on her second mobile? "where shall we meet?". The huge house that is also an array of tv screens with hordes of nintendo playing kids was also a treat. So was mr. Bean playing Vangelis and that soccer player driving a high speed boat. Many references to social media also brightened my outlook on the future. The music was great and I would of enjoyed more Culture Club, Flock of Seaguls, and other late eighties classics. Certainly a dissapointment that Stairway to Heaven was left out. British rock is great. Oh and they should have had a bulldog somewhere in there. Out of all this elevated and highly self aware stuff I think my favorite moment was the opening speech of monsieur Jacque Rogge... the olympics finaly return home after that terrible stay in Beijing and Athens before that. We shouldn't allow barbarians to play with the Olympic flame...

foreign greeks

Foreign Greeks is the newest political party in Greece. It's slogan: We are Foreign, We are Many, We are Greek, reflects the temperament of thousands of citizens who have ended up here for economic mostly reasons. Landed immigrants come mostly from other Balkan countries and many have acquired the right to vote. Estimates are for at least a 7 percent showing in the next election. That will translate into big cash for ten to a dozen foreigners who will see themselves suddenly graduating into MPs. Nine thousand euros monthly along with a Lexus hybrid and lots of other premiums and of course an indexed pension after a mere three years service. Beats the heck out of the 30 euro for a days work deal most immigrants have to deal with. Party leaders have already sent their first message to the corrupt European banking elite and to the Troika members: Duart Lart Erdi Fundi Yot! (hands up your days are numbered)

Karagiozis, GSK, vote of confidence...

http://ideas.time.com/2012/07/06/glaxo-fine-what-will-stop-big-pharma-fraud/
What a fine! 3 billion dollars for misleading the public, false advertising, withholding information of side effects and so on. I wonder what the fine is for corporate murder and child abuse. Capitalism gone wild and a big party to celebrate over there at GlaxoSmithKline the multinational pharmaceutical superconglomerate. In other news the head of the German secret police resigns after admitting destroying evidence of fifteen rascist murders (beaten to death). It's in the superior genes. Seems he was willing to go out of his way to protect the German Nazi party members who amongst others beat a Greek to death. This of course is the face of the market controlled Europe. The Europe of the apocalypse prophecies that was jealous of the dancing whore. http://doomsday-prophecies.blogspot.gr/2009/02/greek-monk-prophecy-third-world-war.html
 On a brighter note a landmark court descision gives a divorced mother a second chance at life. During the years before the economic crisis she had amassed over four hundred thousand euros in debt. Since then she has seen her wages reduced again and again well below half. The court decided that the debt was too great to bear and decided she should pay back the bank only 10 percent of the original loan trimming off 90 percent of her personal debt. That is to say she will be making payments on forty thousand euros. The best part is that the first instalmet begins in 2014. Courts here in Greece are making these kinds of decisions all the time, typicaly asking people to survive on 300 euros per person per month and ordering the banks to settle for big cuts in loans they have already paid out. Collection agencies stop and a new day begins for these people. A very logical measure in a country where most people have seen their incomes drop well below half.

Our new government got a vote of confidence without SYRIZA, the Independent Greeks, the communists and Golden Dawn all in the opposition. Syriza, the official opposition, has set up a shadow government with a shadow cabinet. Makes sense as the three party government (PASOK, New Democracy and Dimar) is mostly a Karagiozis* style fiasco...

*Karagiozis-lead character of the traditional Greek shadow theater...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karagiozis

Spain-Italy 4-0 CRABS

Make sure to pick up your newborn everytime it cries. This until at least six months of age as the old adage that picking up the baby is bad is wrong. A baby needs physical contact in the first six months of its life and learns many things through this process. The AGP algorithm has shown, beyond any doubt, what a lack of attention and tough love will do to a developing child. As a matter of fact all these political leaders who preach austerity programs along with the banking elite that tracks every penny of debt and then dumps it on a weak nations GDP are all individuals that where left to cry for hours in their crib. Merkel and Langarde both were CRABs (crib abandoned babies).http://shine.yahoo.com/team-mom/spanking-linked-mental-illness-says-study-175900352.html Schuable too was neglected for hours and developed a terrible thumb sucking habit. It took mustard under the nails to solve that problem a treatment that leads to an oral-caustic dissorder. All behaviours of troika members can be explained in these rather simplistic terms as their problems arose in early developmental stages leading to a simplistic personality. Centered on greed and the pleasure taken from causing others to suffer these technocrats all need a hug. So if you do bump into them makes sure to give them a big one. Bear hugs are acceptable too but must be released when subject changes colour...CRABS is also the only thing in their pockets and if you ever ask Langarde for a loan expect to get bitten. Rich people are typicaly the stingiest people. Many nice hugs to everyone out there...
ps. Spain takes the Eurocup for a second time. Pretty powerful force eh!

Independent Hellenes, Germany Italy 1-2

It is near impossible to sail a ship with three captains. Secret agendas and backroom deals rule the day and undermine a clear course or even a common objective. Due to eye surgery our Prime Minister could not travel to the European Summit however he did send a letter to the other leaders in the hands of our President. It is a funny letter indeed as it is full of assurances of Greece's intent to pay and hand over and sell out and a tiny paragraph near the end about how we need to tackle unemloyment and exit this recession. Another man attempts suicide for economic reasons today, leaving work for a five minute break and calmly jumping off the Acropolis. One of our neighbours also took a leap for the same kind of reasons. Both in their forties, both miraculously lived. So while our PM whimpers for help, or something like that it is not clear, people are in desperate times here with no room left to maneuver. A million and a half unemployed in a country of eleven million people is a huge number. It is truly a depression we are living in while these politicians gloat and lie and try to fool the people. The only good news here is that we finally have an effective opposition to all this corruption. The other good news is that Italy passes with a 1-2 victory to the Euroleague finals leaving Germany behind. Sure Merkel came to see Greece versus Germany as she assumed it would be a sure win what with Karagoonis, our team captain, excluded from the game. You should see how he was given that yellow card, anyways, I don't want to sound bitter or anything... congragulations Italy and I realy like that back alley soccer style they have... good luck in the finals. 

p.s. you should have seen the Italian players faces during the game. Greece and Spain are both on the verge of bankruptcy after winning the Euroleague cup in 2004 and 2008 respectively. For a moment there I thought the Italians where just going to let the Germans win and possibly go bankrupt too or at least avoid a possible Italian bankruptcy by winning... 

3 party government...

Yes just to keep things spicy we have finaly reached an agreement here in Greece. Samaras as Prime Minister along with Eleftherios Venizelos and Koovelis throwing in their support. So it is New Democracy along with Pasok and the Democratic Left. The pressure was on SYRIZA to also participate with its leader Tsipras who had given birth to the idea of the possibility of renegotiation of the memorandum and loan package. We spent an entire election campaign with New Democracy, Pasok, the Democratic Left, the Communist Party of Greece, the media and of course the rest of the world trying to convince us, the voters, note to vote for SYRIZA. Sure is funny watching all the rich and powerful people squirming in their pants when somebody comes along to doubt their version of the world. I still can't accept that I was born merely to work and pay the rich for alowing me the pleasure of breathing. In other news Samaras managed to score a goal on Germany but Greece still didn't make it to the next round losing 4-2 to the Germans. Merkel seemed to enjoy it. The other Samaras, our PM, was rushed to hospital for eye surgery as the stress of two election campaigns in two months took its toll. The minister of economy also fell sick and needed to be replaced. So John Stournaras takes the place of Bill Rapanos. I am not an expert but why do we need a minister of economics when we already have a minister of development and a minister of the interior and 30 or more other ministries. Well not a very inspired episode today but then that is to be expected. It is summer, it is getting close to 40 degrees celsius and it is time for the beach. Cheers!

Greek election results part 2

Along with some help from friends abroad in the form of direct threats the Samaras summersault has been the mainstay of this repeat election. "I pay I tell you who to vote" Focus German edition last week. Samaras is known as mr. summersault due to his ability to reverse his stance on anything at any moment, see previous post:
 http://ellinomangia.blogspot.gr/2012/04/blog-of-mostly-political-and-cultural.html

So with an entire planet threatening and rattling at us Greeks not to vote for SYRIZA or any other party that refuses to ratify past loan agreements Samaras and his New Tromocracy party managed to win with an astonishing 29.7 percent of the vote. That is certainly way ahead of second place SYRIZA with a mere 26.9 percent of the vote. That 2.5 percentage point difference translates into a 58 seat spread in parliament. Take a look at official results so far. The blue is New Democracy, the pink is SYRIZA and the green is PASOK. The rest are the rest.

So mr. Samaras will have his chance today to form a government by trying to please all the smaller parties. Not much has changed from the elections of May the 6th so it is a possibility that there will be no new government at the end of the day. Greeks are not use to sharing power or responsibility for that matter. As a matter of fact the stereotype of the Greek macho guy with the oversized ego is described here as Ellinaras. As a matter of fact the stereotype is quite fitting for a little over 7 percent of the population that voted for the Golden Dawn party. Nothing like supporting the neo-Nazi party. Kind of like lining up for a handout eh!

Election day Greece qualification

What a week it has been leading up to the elections. I have never lived anything like it. Even in Canada in the eighties with all the debt talk there was never such an organized attempt to spread fear in the populace. We have been treated to all kinds of threats from political leaders and bankers of Europe. Today on the news there was a freakish longhaired analyst from England telling us how Europe is ready to kick us out of the eurozone. A documentary that played two days ago was full of such information. All specualtive of course. "If Greece exits the eurozone... a return to the drachma will mean a devaluation..." and so on and so on. Expert after expert warning us who to vote. Some foreign magazines have come right out and named which party we must vote for in order to stay in the eurozone. Seems we don't realy need elections anymore, not according to bankers anyways. They tell us what to do and then we do it, or starve. One of our comedians pointed out how narrow the beds were in Dachau. They have to thin us down first is the point she was making. So while the privately owned tv channels play these fear mongering newscasts and pseudocumentaries public tv is busy with another viewpoint. They have spent the last week playing documentaries and movies as well but they all have to do with Nazi attrocities and the Greek resistance to them. It is a long list of heroic actions and inhuman response from the invader. 

In other news Greece just beat Russia to qualify for the next round in the Euroleague soccer championships being held in Poland and the Ukraine. 1-0 at the 45 minute mark from mr. Karagoonis. Thank you sir. Victory is sweet and I am keeping my fingers crossed for election day tomorrow. Cheers to all.

Spanish pie...

Or Spanish pudding as the proof therein lies. Spain is a brilliant example of healthy and balanced economic growth. A country that carefuly developed both its agricultural and industrial base. A country with balanced budgets and low debt before the crisis, Spain is suddenly scrambling to cover a black hole of debt. It realy makes no sense, unless of course you have read the Alexander the great plan: http://ellinomangia.blogspot.gr/2011/10/alexander-great-plan-unmasked.html
Spain organized the only profitable olympics ever in Barcelona in 1992. Not a corrupt country with a population that doesn't pay its taxes like we Greeks are supposed to be. The most profitable car factories of the Volkswagen group are the SEAT in Spain. So how did the Spanish end up with such a black hole of debt. An article by local economist Baroufakis blames the "idiotic" private bankers. I have a feeling though that it is more likely that banks have been buying each other out and "idiotic" bankers have managed to sweep their "mistakes" under the carpet. Since the crisis began here in Greece our private banks, that had avoided buying high risk products and were thus poised to avoid the crisis, have been slowly acquired by foreign interests and now require public refinancing. In any event here is the plan that was put into affect to "save" the Spaniards. First the Spanish banks will borrow about 300 billion from the European Central Bank at 1% interest. To avoid any possible bankruptcies the government will also borrow from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) at about 4% and give that money to the banks. As in every case so far when refinancing the banks public money is simply donated with no return or control. To avoid the scary event of a Spanish bankruptcy the private banks will then lend money to their government, from the funds they borrowed at 1% form the EFSF, at the incredible rate of 6%.  So first the private banks of Spain dump their losses onto the Government, and the public. Then they get refinanced at low interest while at the same time lending at a 5 percentage point profit to Spain, pushing her closer to bankruptcy while fighting to pay massive loans of 4 and 6 percentage points to cover these private sector losses. The only thing that is required for this rotten deal is aggressive austerity measures on behalf of the Spanish government and like in the examples of Greece, Ireland and Portugal, the partial granting of national sovereignty. It is a small price to pay to stay in the Euro eh? NOT! The basic premise for SYRIZA and Tsipras refusing to partake in a government with either ND or PASOK is just that, the two parties have already signed a partial granting of Greek sovereignty...
This is also my premise for calling Merkel and her gangster coworkers Nazis, 'cause what do they want with Greek sovereignty anyways? The mechanism to chip away at nations and national identities has been set up. Who will prevail and under what conditions will be judged in the future elections or in the marketplace depending on our vote.

Liana Kaneli, Rena Dourou, Ilias Kassidiaris, Golden Dawn

Members of Golden Dawn, Kassidiaris and Mihaloliakos, being sworn in.

I woke up this morning just another busy day. Dress the kids, get them to school, burp the baby. We were watching the morning news magazine when the rotten egg that is fascism finaly hatched. All week, and thanks to a law of equal representation of all parties in parliament on the news, we were subjected to the presence of Golden Dawn members on news pannels. Treated as equals they crept into our homes and our tv world, it is all we have left these days, and started to woo us with all their charms and eloquent language. It is the best way to feed the egg, to incubate it, to force it to reveal itself. Many thanks to Liana Kaneli on her brave stance and comments, oblivion, oblivion, oblivion... may the Greek electorate hear her...

ps. watch the reaction of Prokopis Pavlopoulos, the white haired gentleman sitting next to Dourou, member of parliament and of the conservative ND party. Am I wrong or is he looking for the exit?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk3BnSY-6Kk&feature=related


Please also watch a ballsy Irish reporter showing up these Nazi troika types, the real fascists of europe today as it would seem...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxkBR_f_q4Y&feature=g-all-xit

Sonic the hedge fund....

The Indepenent in London reports this morning:

A group of hedge funds is threatening to block a last-ditch attempt to save Greece from defaulting on its huge debt pile, unless they are guaranteed a significant payout.

There will be a final attempt today – when a group representing Greece's private sector bondholders meets senior ministers in Athens – to negotiate a writedown of the value of the country's debt ahead of a crucial bond repayment deadline next month.

Sources familiar with the talks, which collapsed at the end of last week, have said that a number of hedge funds are holding up the restructuring deal to ensure that they make a fat profit, after snapping up Greek bonds at distressed prices.

Sure it is an old story from last December or January but its message still rings true. Markets making money at the expense of overindebted nations. I still have not gone into stuff like PSI (private sector involvement) or CDS (credit default swaps). The fact that markets determine policy has been a direct result of what was once known as trickle down economics. Since then, back in the eighties with Reaganomics, the tax base has shifted from the haves to the have nots. Point of sale taxes, hidden consumer taxes on things like gasoline and other commodities and a whole series of broad based taxes like the recent haratsi tax in Greece, have taken the tax burden off the rich and spread it across the population. Trickle down makes the assumption that the rich will eventualy share their wealth with everyone through their needs for better services and so forth. Like a constipated bekantan, big nosed monkey, all the money is stuck at the top. The top one percent of the population in fact, that holds on to the vast majority of earths wealth and can't seem to waste its money fast enough for it to trickle down to the rest of us. You know on useful things like bigger cars, yachts, sex tourism, or whatever other whim may whip their fancy. I never did understand Reaganomics anyways other than the fact that it disenfranchised most people from their wealth. It truly is time to let go of our former fearsome ways.
Greece has sort of started to do so as SYRIZA slipped into the lead momentarily in the polls on Friday. The constipated establishment let out a big fearsome awesome fart with all sorts of starvation scenarios if Tsipras and SYRIZA win the election. Quite a stale smell erupted from the bowels of the system but after eight long months of threats upon threats we are no longer scared. Instead it is time to break with old fearful patterns and head down life's highway into uncharted and greener territory. The establishment too has shown cracks in its united front against everything logical, sensical, sane or humane. There is a negative reaction to Schuable's nomination to the head of the Eurogroup. Steinmeier says there is just too much power concentrated in Germany. Berlusconi suggested that the south of Europe mint its own Euro without the participation of Germany and many European politicians are practicing their acrobatics. It will be one hoat summer....

Samari...donkeysaddle...asspack

When Samaras says he can do it you better beleive it, yes he can! He has managed to convince the electorate that he had nothing to do with the previous interim government. He has also convinced the electorate that he was not to blame in anyway for the repeat elections we are having on the 17th of June. He has also managed to bring back into the fold of the New Democratic party, the Greek conservatives, Dora who had once sworn she would sooner collaberate with the devil. http://www.filoumenos.com/index.php/2009-08-14-17-51-55/plugins/system/jceutilities/css/forum/components/com_comment/joscomment/templates/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3522:Ntora-Mpakogianni-Koybeloy-Mitsotaki-THa-pigaina-kai-me-ton-diabolo-an-itan-na-s%CE%BFso-tin-patrida-moy&catid=73:nwo-greece&Itemid=141. I realy hope this link works as it is quite entertaining. So I must tip my hat off to the man who starts his speeches talking about how he doesn't want the scared vote and then goes on to describe the endtimes if Tsipras and SYRIZA win.  http://oianentaxtoi.blogspot.com/2012/05/blog-post_4404.html. The truth is that we are not about to get kicked out of the euro. One has to agree to leave the eurozone as a unanimous decision is required. The psychological pressure on the populace is insane. Everyday we are bombarded from different sources with lies about how we will lose our wages, property, money, future, ability to breathe, if we dare vote for any party that does not uphold the agreements made by the previous interim government. Lagarde, the head of the IMF, was the funniest, telling us how we should feel sorry for the Nigerians and not the Greeks, how we, the Greeks, will end up like the Nigerians if we leave the Eurozone, and how we should pay our taxes. With the present law, and if the same idiots win the elections and form a government again, even people with no income will have to pay income tax. The filthy rich of course do not have to. They have their offshores and creative accounting to hide behind. Whenever a tax bill does appear they don't pay it anyways as the paperwork always seems to miraculously dissapear. Lagarde too is no exception but rather a brilliant example of what somebody holding public office must do to protect their interests. Lagarde's wage amounts to a mere 400000 (four hundred thousand) euros a year, tax free. Notice that I say tax free and not after taxes. Tax free is no worries, no responsibilies, total liscence. So screw you madame Lagarde, if Tsipras does manage to take first place you and your buddies will end up infront of a judge. If he doesn't we will probably have to go for a third round of elections... 

Olandreou, Merkelozi, Rodrigueras...

A popular name game in the last few years has been combining politicians' names to create a new word and suggest a possible correlation. I think it is unfortunate myself and many times in bad taste. The latest victim of this fad has been Olan, the French President, who had refused to meet with Tsipras, the leader of the Greek Left Coalition. Instead he opted to meet with Venizelos the leader of the PASOK socialist party. So Tsipras said that he hoped that Olan does not become an Olandreou and I assume he was referring to Andreas Papandreou, the man who formed PASOK in the post junta years. Andreas managed to change Greece in the early eighties with all kinds of political and social reforms that by the end of that decade PASOK had become the breeding ground for all kinds of opportunists and conmen. He may have also meant Goerge Papandreou who kept breaking promises to the Greek people. It is a very stupid negotiating tactic to promise the electorate that there will be no increase in the GST in order to pressure the Troika to back down on that demand. The GST was increased from nineteen to twenty three percent. Goerge also promised not to reduce pensions while the Troika was demanding just that. Guess what happened. The same thing happened to wages and extended pensions. Nowadays nobody is promising anything and I myself had to prepay for my newborn baby's shots and await a reimbursement in about eight months. Our family doctor, who administered the shot, is owed about  a hundred thousand euros in visitation fees from the government. We are also waiting on family alowance cheques and all reimbursements for our third child. There is no money after the haircut, the infamous PSI,  to the debt. Even at work I finished the work and will get paid whenever money shows up. Nowadays I realy wonder where that guy is. Twenty billion euros flew out of our borders in the last month... 

Gunter Grass...

Thank you mr. Gunter Grass for your kind remarks and inspirational words. They wrote us off, we will continue without them... from the mind that invented Europe... Europe’s shame Close to chaos, because the market is not just, you’re far away from the country which was your cradle. What was searched and found with one’s soul, is now considered to be as worthless as scrap metal. As a debtor put naked on the pillory, a country about which you used to say you were grateful, suffers. Poverty doomed country whose maintained wealth adorns museums of the loot you kept. Those [World War II German nazi occupation soldiers] who hit the country, blessed with islands, with the force of arms wore both uniforms and [books of German poet, inspired by ancient Greek poetry] Hölderlin in their knapsacks. Barely tolerated country whose colonels were once tolerated by you as an alliance partner. Country which lost its rights, whose belt is tightened and tightened again by the cocksurely powerful. Antigone defying you wearing black and all over the country, the people whose guest you have been wear mourning clothes. However, outside the country, the Croesus resembling followers have hoarded all what glitters like gold in your vaults. Booze at last, drink! [European] Commissioners’ cheerleaders shout. However, Socrates gives you back the [hemlock poison] cup full to the brim. Curse you as a chorus, which is characteristic of you, will the gods, whose Mount Olympus you want to steal. You’ll waste away mindlessly without the country, whose mind invented you, Europe. Europas Schande Dem Chaos nah, weil dem Markt nicht gerecht, bist fern Du dem Land, das die Wiege Dir lieh. Was mit der Seele gesucht, gefunden Dir galt, wird abgetan nun, unter Schrottwert taxiert. Als Schuldner nackt an den Pranger gestellt, leidet ein Land, dem Dank zu schulden Dir Redensart war. Zur Armut verurteiltes Land, dessen Reichtum gepflegt Museen schmückt: von Dir gehütete Beute. Die mit der Waffen Gewalt das inselgesegnete Land heimgesucht, trugen zur Uniform Hölderlin im Tornister. Kaum noch geduldetes Land, dessen Obristen von Dir einst als Bündnispartner geduldet wurden. Rechtloses Land, dem der Rechthaber Macht den Gürtel enger und enger schnallt. Dir trotzend trägt Antigone Schwarz und landesweit kleidet Trauer das Volk, dessen Gast Du gewesen. Außer Landes jedoch hat dem Krösus verwandtes Gefolge alles, was gülden glänzt gehortet in Deinen Tresoren. Sauf endlich, sauf! schreien der Kommissare Claqueure, doch zornig gibt Sokrates Dir den Becher randvoll zurück. Verfluchen im Chor, was eigen Dir ist, werden die Götter, deren Olymp zu enteignen Dein Wille verlangt. Geistlos verkümmern wirst Du ohne das Land, dessen Geist Dich, Europa, erdachte.

"Η Ντροπή της Ευρώπης"

"Στο χάος κοντά, γιατί δεν συμμορφώθηκε στις αγορές· κι Εσύ μακριά από τη Χώρα, που Σου χάρισε το λίκνο.

Όσα εσύ με την ψυχή ζήτησες και νόμισες πως βρήκες, τώρα θα καταλυθούν, και θα εκτιμηθούν σαν σκουριασμένα παλιοσίδερα.

Σαν οφειλέτης διαπομπευμένος και γυμνός, υποφέρει μια Χώρα· κι Εσύ, αντί για το ευχαριστώ που της οφείλεις, προσφέρεις λόγια κενά.

Καταδικασμένη σε φτώχεια η Χώρα αυτή, που ο πλούτος της κοσμεί Μουσεία: η λεία που Εσύ φυλάττεις.

Αυτοί που με τη δύναμη των όπλων είχαν επιτεθεί στη Χώρα την ευλογημένη με νησιά, στον στρατιωτικό τους σάκο κουβαλούσαν τον Χέλντερλιν.

Ελάχιστα αποδεκτή Χώρα, όμως οι πραξικοπηματίες της, κάποτε, από Εσένα, ως σύμμαχοι έγιναν αποδεκτοί.

Χώρα χωρίς δικαιώματα, που η ισχυρογνώμων εξουσία ολοένα και περισσότερο της σφίγγει το ζωνάρι.

Σ' Εσένα αντιστέκεται φορώντας μαύρα η Αντιγόνη, και σ' όλη τη Χώρα πένθος ντύνεται ο λαός, που Εσένα φιλοξένησε.

Όμως, έξω από τη Χώρα, του Κροίσου οι ακόλουθοι και οι όμοιοί του όλα όσα έχουν τη λάμψη του χρυσού στοιβάζουν στο δικό Σου θησαυροφυλάκιο.

Πιες επιτέλους, πιες! κραυγάζουν οι εγκάθετοι των Επιτρόπων· όμως ο Σωκράτης, με οργή Σου επιστρέφει το κύπελλο γεμάτο ώς επάνω.

Θα καταραστούν εν χορώ, ό,τι είναι δικό Σου οι θεοί, που τον Ολυμπό τους η δική Σου θέληση ζητάει ν' απαλλοτριώσει.

Στερημένη από πνεύμα, Εσύ θα φθαρείς χωρίς τη Χώρα, που το πνεύμα της, Εσένα, Ευρώπη,  δημιούργησε".

deja vu

In a twist of fate and a crease in vested interests Merkel recommends Greece has a plebiscite. It is so ironic that when Goerge Papandreou, the elected Prime Minister at the time, had suggested a plebiscite last October, Merkel along with the Troika and the IMF had demanded he step down and be replaced by an interim government. They also demanded that a governing coalition be formed that would include the opposition and one more party. We then spent the next six months with no parliamentary opposition and new austerity measures with no end and no discussion. Merkel and her allies achieved this by holding back on loan payouts while collecting loan payments. Like getting your balls caught in a vice. I am told that the Nazi party was outlawed in Germany. It makes perfect sense, Merkel couldn't stand the competition.
Talk about dejavu...http://ellinomangia.blogspot.com/2011/11/dear-goerge.html. The big difference is in the time frames. Back in October we were talking about an interim government that would last into February, it lasted into May. Goerge Papandreou was made to be seen as a madman and the Germans made recommendations with a wink and a nudge. I guess that second part has changed to a hard shove. Nowadays with Tsipras and his party leading the polls their is an absolute panick in the press to discredit him. The power elite, be it represented by Merkel or by the bankers, feels threatened right now. If Tsipras manages an upset in the June 17th elections it will be the end of an era. I will remind everybody that a short three months ago the German president was forced to step down in a banking scandal. He was pressuring banks to give no interst loans to his powerful friends in return for his presidential favors. So in this Roman style orgy of mismanagement and Christian Democracy, with no opposition in sight, a hard turn to the left is clearly in sight. There is no other choice.
In local news members of Golden Dawn, our own NeoNazi party, arrived in busses in the city of Patras today. Along with locals a total of about three hundred "activists" entered the abandoned factory of Piraiki-Patraiki to kick out Afghan squatters. Earlier in the week a thirty year old Greek died in a scuffle with Afghanis after kicking their dog! Go figure eh. Tonight is the Eurovision semi-finals and we will have a mindless night of bad music and great scenery on the teli. Eurovision is like hockey night in Canada. Oh and Olympiakos, our own team from Pireaus, won the European basketball cup. So take that eh!

Alexander The Great Plan part 3

A quick look at Alexander's birthplace today. After three fruitless attempts at forming a coalition government by the three first parties the mandate goes back to the president today. He, mr. Papoulias, will wrestle to form a national unity coalition with all parties. Here the problems begin. SYRIZA, the second largest party, refuses to sit at the table if Golden Dawn, the neo-nazi party, is present. So the president will have two meetings with party leaders. One with the three largest parties and one more with the remaining parties that include the Independent Greeks, Greek Communist Party, Democratic Left, and the now legendary Golden Dawn party. You gotta fight...for your right...
The lines are pretty clearly drawn in the electrorate. About thirty percent of the population that is not in danger of personal bankruptcy continue to prefer former coalition parties of ND and PASOK. The remainder seventy percent that can't afford to pay another HARATSI have opted for any party that denounces the bailout plan. SYRIZA is now first in the polls and is topping twenty five percent. The magic number for majority rule with the fifty seat first place bonus is a mere thirty four percent. Enough numbers though. Europe is watching closely and knows that the next government will enact full disclosure and control of private banks and will rescind parliamentary asylum. That is bad news for Sarkozi, Merkel and all other thieves that have been driving the European south methodicaly to starvation. Full disclosure could even mean jail sentences for people at the top and Greece is considered both the first dominoe and the manifestation of European conscience, if there is any.
So after mr. Obama so graciously did the obvious to buy private banks instead of doing a blind bailout here in Europe we struggle with the same issue. Greece received eighteen billion last week for its banks and has given a total of two hundred billion in tax money to banks over the last four years. Money that simply dissapears into these private institutions with no hope of ever being recovered. Back in 2008 Greek banks were considered safe as they had steered clear of toxic funds and investments. Soon big European banks had bought controlling or very large share of banks here. I have a feeling, a very sound one, that we have been bailing out Europe and not the other way around. Maybe that is why their elite have been jumping the gun and threatening to exclude us from Europe altogether. So humpty Dumpty has fallen off the wall...

Greek election results... also ran

PASOK the Panhellenic Socialist sellout Party has officialy lost the elections and has come in a distant third. The Greek conservatives, the New Democrats, have officialy won but without a majority. SYRIZA the Greek left coalition party is in second place. Fourth place goes to Kammenos and his party, that guy always makes me laugh and the Nazis are in there too known as the Golden Dawn party. Golden Shower might be more appropriate with their freakishly short leader and his overstuffed skinhead bodyguards that now number 20 MPs. Things are very extreme these days. Samaras, the leader of the ND conservatives already took a turn at forming a government but inspite of his 108 seats in parliament was unable to find support for a coalition. The simple truth is that ND and PASOK, the former coalition government supporters with 70 percent of the vote till last sundays elections, have been reduced to a combined force of less than 40 percent of the vote and less than 151 members of parliament. So the much hated IMF and Troika loans are no more. That is a fact. Or is it?

     Tsipras, the leader of SYRIZA, also got a chance at bat but he too was unable to form a government coalition. The leaders of both PASOK and ND offered a vote of confidence with the only condition that Greece retain the euro as her national currency. Tsipras accepted their support with the only condition that their leaders send letters to the IMF and Troika rescinding their letters of guarantee sent before the election. I guess they refused to do that as there has been no straight talk since. It is funny when in history you find the point of no return. It has nothing to do with ability or human will but more to do with the movement of the planets. Getty Lee was able to march 15000 men unnoticed under the cover of darkness. He won the battle but then the south lost the war. If the memorandum and the Troika are not disbanded we will continue to see personal bankruptcies growing in this country. We will continue to see economic suicides that in the last two years number two thousand and include mostly family men and retirees. These numbers are the seeds of civil war sewn by a system whose only answer to pressure was to bash the weak with aggressive policies. In July that law that had protected Greeks from having their households foreclosed is getting rescinded. Time runs out. In as much as I see Tsipras as the only solution my neighbour sees Samaras as the only solution, his neighbour sees Kammenos as the only solution and the guy across the street will vote Golden Dawn from now on.

     Kammenos is a funny case indeed. I say that mostly because he makes me laugh. A politician with a sense of humour is very rare in Greece. We are an ultra-conservative country. Kammenos is the founder and leader of a party of renegade conservatives that refused to vote the last memorandum. They were ousted from the ND party by Samaras and decided to form a party of their own called Independent Greeks. Kammenos gives some of the best speeches. He is rotund with a baby face and a rocker haircut of clean but greying hair. Above all he is clean, gleamishly clean. All politicians in Greece wear a suit. In his speeches Kammenos attacks the bankers for lending eachother at one percent and lending to governments at six or seven percent. He attacks Merkel for her expansionist policies and her attempts to reduce Greece to a protectorate of Germany. He opens bridges to China and Russia. He speaks of the proud Greek nation. He talks of conspiracies to thwart us, to deny us our land and our power to raise food and be self sufficient. He refers to the Belzbergs and others by their name and has no problem playing conspiracy theories on the tips of his fingers. He is mad. He is angry. He is right wing. He is Kammenos!

     The real reason that nobody seems to be able to rule Greece nowadays is Golden Dawn. You see the parliament is split down the middle. The winning party, ND, got the 50 seat first party bonus, so thus 58 elected plus 50 bonus makes for 108 MPs. The second and third parties are in the 40 something MPs. That means that even the biggest party, ND, needs a three party coalition to rule, and that the hard left can't rule without the support of one of the memorandum signing parties, ND or PASOK. The only way out of this conundrum for either side is to accept the support of Golden Dawn and Vancouver clubbers may get a good laugh out of that. Nobody dares to work with those nazis. We will probably see elections before the month is out. Greetings to all and keep on rocking, in the free world!

Political correctness

A blog of mostly political and cultural content totaly concerned with events in Greece and the implimentation of the Alexander the Great Plan and the workings of the Alexander the Great Algorithm. A day to day log of the erosion of the Global Market Economy and its replacement with the True Value Added system. AGP and AGA leading to a TVA clarity of GNP and GDP in GME measurements. Social Curiosity Tzatziki and hair removal and replacement medications... enjoy!

Try and follow the logic:

Samaras, the leader of the Conservatives (New Democrats) eliminated Dora Bakoianni from the party for voting YES to the first memorandum when the party line was to vote NO.

He subsequently eliminated 21 MPs for voting NO when the party line was YES.

Dora, who had voted  YES, got in touch with some of the eliminated MPs to join her party since they voted NO.

Dora who had voted  YES and was discussing with those who had voted NO to join her party accused Samaras of political schizophrenia.

Samaras is now trying to readmit those who had voted NO when they should have voted YES  into his party.

Comprendes Amigo? Samaras use to date singer superstar Vissi.

TSIPRAS

Every day here we are bombarded with election coverage and election adds. The two main political parties are trying to dominate airtime with their bickering but don't seem to be able to convince anyone. They have lost integrity and trust and the electorate in its great majority rejects them both. The true test here will not be of the Greek democratic system but of global markets and EU and their tolerance of self determination. May 6th is fast approaching and the day after will see a whole new parliament. Tsipras, the leader of the left coalition SYRIZA party decided to have some fun today when he announced that he would certainly accept a coalition with Kammenos' right wing Independent Greeks party in order to support a coalition government with Papariga, the leader of the communist party as Prime Minister.

KAMMENOS

PAPRIGA 

Certainly was a smart move and it guaranteed a sensational news story that dominated broadcasts all day giving us a welcome break from the usual two party bickering. It is so funny to hear Samaras and Venizelos promising to punish and even impeach those who had embezzled public money in the past. Half the members  of their parties are involved so it might be a problem. Certainly will be when friends of friends get involved. Today Akis' wife, see http://ellinomangia.blogspot.com/2012/04/vip-cells.html, was dragged off to jail. Cheers mr. Tsipras for your most welcome humour!!!