A Greek Politician at a Public Event, hosted at Parliament in London.

A speech was given by Thanos Tzimeros, a Greek politician and leader of Dimourghia Xana, at a public event that took place in Parliament on the 4th November 2015.

 It addresses issues surrounding Greece, its present state and thoughts about a possible more positive future.

T. Tzimeros is a good talker and often manages to be humorous, caustic, and truthful in even doses in his addresses. In so doing he does not distort reality; and the few numbers included in his speeches are usually correct AFAIK.

It is not a bad text and it does give a reasonably accurate overview of why things are what they are in Greece and how they came to be as they are. And it is refreshingly short for a politician...

No further comments necessary.

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"Right Honourable Members of the British Parliament, dear all!
I thank you for the invitation and for granting me the opportunity to analyze the causes that have driven my country, a country which in the past inspired poets and philosophers, to inspire today only cartoonists and presenters of satirical shows.
Greece is a country in deep crisis, a crisis that is not only financial. I would dare to say that the financial issue is the least of its problems. For the past 35 years, Greece has been living through a continuous decline in ethics, institutions, public life, education and the level of its leaders.
There is no precedent in World History where a government adopted as its official state policy the blackmailing of its partners. This is precisely what SYRIZA did during its seven-month "negotiation" with the European Union - negotiation in quotation marks. And, let us not forget that the EU partners had already given to a basically bankrupt state, an enormous debt “haircut” and two bailout loan agreements with extremely favourable terms, mostly at the expense of the European taxpayers.
It is clear that the SYRIZA government went to Brussels with the following shocking message, a message which was its central platform during the pre-election campaign period: "You lend us money, we spend it. And, we intend to keep on spending in the exact same way that led us into bankruptcy; on huge pensions for fifty-year olds and on salaries for hundreds of thousands of redundant civil servants, many of whom with a ghost job description. And, not only shall we not fire any persons holding sinecure offices, but we shall hire even more civil servants and create more early pensioners. We are not undertaking any commitments for the new loans that we want you to give to us, and we demand that you write off the old ones." Unbelievable!
According to the SYRIZA propaganda in Greece, there was not even one in a million probability that the European Union would turn down the demands of SYRIZA, because the alternative of not lending to this Neo-Bolshevik Greek government would be the collapse of the European Union, a much greater catastrophe that the leaders of the European Union would certainly want to avoid!
I am ashamed for my country’s government. I am ashamed for its politicians. I am ashamed of the image of Greece in the modern world. I admire the composure and patience of the European governments that continued to negotiate for 7 months with these blackmailers! However, surprisingly, the SYRIZA won the national elections for a second time in a row. What has happened? Have the Greeks gone mad?
No. Even for the most irrational of behaviors there is always a rational explanation. But one has to look at the entire picture. Please, allow me a brief historical overview. It is essential in order to comprehend the Greek Drama.
The rule of law was never really applied in Greece, a country that did not go through the renaissance and the enlightenment. The Ottoman occupation was succeeded by an Ottoman model of governance, “Greek style”. The Greek State has always been a mixture of guilds and interest groups, in conflict with each other. The core of this model has always been state sponsored patronage. In Greece we call it “clientelism”. The Greek citizens have been giving their vote to those from whom they expected the greatest benefit.
The Greek politicians, on the other hand, ensured their re-election by giving away public money through the appointments to civil service positions, and through the granting of pensions and allowances. Policies to benefit the entire Greek population have never taken hold in Greece. The political parties seized power by any and all means, lawful or not, in order to look after their client sextion of the people and, of course, to put their hands on the public money wich is taxpayers’ money, as the late baroness Thatcher used to say.
Consequently, in the past, the Greeks were divided because of conflicts of interest and not because of substantial ideological differences. The ideological differences came after the civil war. Under the pretext of the communist danger, the rightist governments, who won the civil war, adopted practices of legalized fascism, which divided the Greeks between “loyalists” and “infected”. Infected were not only the communists, but also the progressive thinking citizens. No person could occupy public office, get higher education, or even marry a civil servant, unless they could obtain a “certificate of political convictions”, granted by the police, which certified that none of the person's family members had ever been involved in any “anti-national activity”.
Given the fact that this term is totally vague, it was at the discretion of the police officer to determine how to classify a person and thus stigmatize him or her for the rest of his or her life. This regime lasted until 1981, leaving the civil war wounds open, and leading the post-war generations to believe that anything to the "right" is fascist and regressive, while anything to the "left" is synonymous with progress and humanism.
Then, came PASOK with Andreas Papandreou. By opening up the public sector to the leftists, who up to that time had been excluded, he could have led Greece to a national reconciliation. In addition, he happened to come into power at the time when the then E.E.C had opened the tap of financing. Thus, Andreas Papandreou also had the financial means to build the necessary infrastructure and modernise the country, especially its institutional framework.
He did exactly the opposite. He fostered a new division, but this time it was the rightists that were left out of the game, and all power went to Papandreou's partisans. In the first year of his tenure, he increased the number of civil servants from 121,000 to 208,000! By the time the crisis broke out, Greece had nearly 1,100,000 civil servants, burdening the State with a cost of 31 billion Euros per year!
Andreas Papandreou created one more industry of debt production and of "buying of consciences": pensions. He was granting early retirement at full pension to literally everyone: to 32-year old mothers of minors, to 40-year old military officers, to unmarried daughters of military officers or judges, to leaders of trade unions, to repatriated Greeks from the ex-Soviet Union, to artists as a prize for their work, and to anybody who had supposedly participated in the resistance during the German occupation, including those born in 1933! 7 year old partisans!
The most outrageous benefits were granted to the members of certain unions through the so-called supplementary pension funds. In some cases, these union members, with insurance contributions to the supplementary pension funds of less than 200 Euros in total, have received, up to date, nearly 200,000 Euros per person in supplementary pensions! It was a good investment, don't you agree? Between the year 2000 and today, Greek taxpayers have paid 200 billion Euros for pensions; which corresponds to almost two-thirds of the Greek debt.
In the periods when New Democracy, the alleged Greek conservative party, exercised power, it simply copied PASOK. The two parties, thus, created a monstrous mechanism of clientelism, even stronger than the position of the Prime Minister: The efforts of Constantinos Mitsotakis of New Democracy and of Costas Simitis of PASOK, both prime ministers, to implement some liberal reforms were undermined and eventually reversed by their own parties, themselves!
The clientelistic establishment that grossly inflated the ranks of the civil servants also destroyed the quality of the services provided. The party followers that were appointed were generally people without skills, with minimal education, low intelligence and without any desire to work. A note from a minister that Mr. Rakintzis, the Inspector of Public Administration, discovered in the file of a newly hired civil servant, is very telling. The politician wrote: “He is good for nothing. Just place him somewhere”.
This partisanship has infiltrated everything, and has removed any notion of meritocracy and personal responsibility, eliminated any concept of benefit versus cost, and has also transformed the simplest civil functions into indecipherable riddles. Every time a citizen comes into contact with any part of the state mechanism, he or she knows in advance that they will live through a nightmare of absurdity, stupidity, legal chaos, bureaucratic sadism, wasted time, wasted energy and wasted money. And it is even worse for potential investors.
The parties nurtured state workers unions as a mechanism to control the civil servants. But in doing so, they actually fed a monster that has broken away and is devouring everything in its path. When the union of civil servants goes on strike, the country grinds to a hold. It is estimated that, over the last four decades, the time lost due to strikes by the civil servants is more than 1500 working days! That is approximately 6 years’ worth of work!The unions have imposed an unprecedented regime where there is a complete absence of any control and complete impunity for their union members. Civil servants that have been sentenced for embezzlement of tens of millions of Euros, or even for murder, continue to be paid and keep their posts in the civil service, as if nothing had happened! The heads of the state workers unions are, by law, exempt from work. They cannot be fired, they receive a special union pension, they are illegally financed by the state with hundrends of millions of Euros, with no proof required for their expenses.
So, the Greeks have learnt to survive within a state that is hostile to them, that steals from them, does not fulfil its obligations, and does not honour its agreements. The state entraps its citizens taxes, retroactively, and constantly changes the rules of the game. The Greeks have learnt to operate within a non-existent institutional framework, where there are no checks and balances or separation of powers, where the justice system operates under the thumb of the executive branch, where it takes up to 30 years to reach a court judgement, where most operating regulations are not through laws voted in the parliament, but through decrees issued by each Minister depending on his personal political interests. It is telling that out of the 110.000 regulatory provisions of the last 15 years, a mere 2% have actually been voted in parliament.
Often it is impossible to sort out what to do because of the existence of contradictory laws for the same issue. Evidently, in no way does Greece resemble a western state operating under the rule of law. Thus, in the elections, citizens punish one party by voting for the other, if they don’t abstain altogether, disgusted with the political system as a whole.
This decadence has gradually driven almost all capable people away from politics and, certainly anyone who would be able to reform this state-monster. There have been many examples of worthy, honest, and innovative politicians during these past years, but their own political parties pushed them to the margins, or away from politics altogether.
Most Greeks actually want this model changed. I remember when the troika appeared for the first time, I was in a taxi when I heard the news of the arrival of the troika on the radio. The driver, a simple guy, also heard it, and told me: “Can they stay here forever? Can they get into the ministries, and clean up the deadwood? It is the only way for us to become a real state!”
But this did not happen. Unfortunately, in my opinion, two criminal mistakes were made. The first was made by the Greek political system. First Mr. Samaras, then Mr. Tsipras, discovered the charm of the “revolution” against the bailout agreements. Instead of explaining to the citizens, in every detail, the real causes for the Greek bankruptcy, and instead of supporting the reforms that are necessary for the survival of the country, they fabricated the myth that the evil foreigners want to impoverish us, whilst at the same time they pretend to battle for the salvation of the Greeks. And, in order to preserve the privileges of their clients, they chose to overtax the private sector, forcing over 400.000 Greek companies to close or to relocate, and driving two million Greeks into unemployment, underemployment, or emigration.
The other big mistake was made by the Troika: Even though they were fully aware that the politicians they were dealing with were completely unreliable, they did not demand during the application of the first two bailout agreements that reforms must be made before the money is given. In fact, the Troika should have implemented what I had suggested, back in 2011, in my - very well known in Greece - letter to Chancellor Merkel: “Small installments against specific reforms, step by step. Not all the money at once!”
The governments of George Papandreou and Antonis Samaras voted for the laws of the bailout, took the money, and then voted other laws that annulled the first laws, or simply did not enforce them.
The data pertaining to the pension system are revealing. Even in the middle of the crisis, there are still 200 different pension funds and 40 legal loopholes for early retirement. Even today, one-third of the civil servants retire before the age of 55, with an average retirement age of 56.3 years. 91% of the retirements from the so-called "noble" funds are early. We pay 4.7 billion Euros per year to pensioners below 60 years of age. And, 417,000 people are receiving from 3 to 10 pensions each!
Despite being aware of these facts, the Troika accepted and continues to accept the criminal logic of allowing equivalent measures instead, which means new taxes in order to finance old privileges.
At the January national elections, the Greek people voted for the SYRIZA party because Mr. Tsipras promised tax relief and the end of austerity. At the same time, Mr. Tsipras promised new benefits and the hiring of hundreds of thousands of additional civil servants. Obviously, these were promises that could not be kept. But the Greek voters had to choose between slow death in the hands of the indecisive and ineffective New Democracy and PASOK or the unknown SYRIZA, that campaigned with false promises under the mask of humanitarianism. The people chose the unknown, longing for a change for the better.
While SYRIZA has won two consecutive elections this year, its populist leadership faces a daily painful humiliation, since they are forced to recant on all their pre-election promises. At the same time, New Democracy is forced, for the first time in its history, to face the question of its ideological identity, and there is even a possibility that it will elect a reformer as president of the party. This is of great interest to us because most of our voters are trapped in the polarization that the Greek political system has created, and many of them vote for New Democracy hoping that the Neo-Stalinists of SYRIZA will be defeated and that New Democracy may change its nature.
We, Dimiourgia Xana, are consistent in our pro-European orientation and radical reform agenda. We believe that the European Union is at a critical juncture in its history, since it is becoming necessary to transfer vital responsibilities from the sovereign member states to a central government. It is an extremely complex step, which we could discuss for days. But it is we, the citizens of Europe, and no one else, who have to attempt it, because, if we do not, no single European country alone will be able to play a leading role in the world of tomorrow.
However, the imperfect European structure is not in any way an excuse for the Greek problem. The debt of our country is 100% a Greek achievement, and we must be responsible for the repayment of every cent of it. And, we are the ones responsible for eliminating the mechanism that is creating the debt, because even if the entire debt were written off today, the corrupt system of governance would create the debt all over again.
The reform of our country is our obligation. It can only be done by politicians and technocrats who are not calculating the political cost and are willing to clash with vested interests.
Are there the necessary human resources to achieve this? Of course there are, but you are not seeing them in the news. Greece is full of intelligent, honest, energetic, innovative, productive, decent Greeks, who excel anywhere in the world, when they find an environment where the rule of law and meritocracy apply. Even in Greece, despite the enormous difficulties, there are people who work hard and produce wealth. There are also many competent and honest public servants at every level of the hierarchy that wish to work in an environment of transparent rules and the enforcement of the laws.
The healthy Greece exists everywhere, it exists among the Greeks of the diaspora, it exists in this room, and it exists in the last Greek village. Greece is favoured by nature. It has abundant natural resources, history, culture. In the same way that we excel in the shipping industry, we can excel in all types of business, in academia and in research. If an open-minded government were in power, which would encourage enterprise and innovation, Greece would be galloping.
We ask for your help to accomplish that. Not by giving us new loans, but by supporting reformist voices like ours, those voices that the Greek political system is silencing. It is a matter of time for the Neo-Bolsheviks of SYRIZA to collapse, especially if the European partners stick to their guns and force the Greek Government to reduce the size and waste of the State. This can only be done by shutting down useless public institutions and laying off their staff. Then, we will have a lot of work to do to rebuild Greece from the ground up. It is a big challenge, but we can do it! There are many Greeks like us that have sworn to our children to deliver to them a modern European country, productive, civilized, proud and worthy of its history. We are determined to succeed, no matter how much we will have to fight."
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A small point: one can always hope, hope dies last. Meanwhile, why not check the flights out of the country while the border is still open; the "neo-bolsheviks", as Mr Tzimeros refers to the present ruling party in Greece, have shown clear authoritarian (neo-fascist?) inclinations...

The Walk

Two went out for a long walk; grandfather and grandson.

The grandfather went away to another world.

I miss the one who left. I am lucky to have the one who is still here.

Neurolinguistic Programming and the Use of Presuppositions in the Greek Elections (fall 2015)

Or, why the other parties hardly stand a chance!

Which parties? the non "Syriza" parties. Syriza is a "surprisingly idiotic" party that came to power in the beginning of 2015, in Greece. It made a monumental mess of everything. So much so, that these Greek politicians are worthy contenders to win the "best case of mismanagement ever" world trophy. They did one thing well, however: they placed cronies, girl-friends, and family in the Greek civil service.

No -- make that two things: Syriza was and is very good at marketing communication.

For public speaking, the Syriza leader (Alex Tsipras) puts on a sad, nostalgic, faraway look, and deepens his voice to make it all more appealing and confidence-inspiring. He leans forward to show energy -- but not too far forward, lest it put part of his electorate that is banking on "money for nothing", as the bail-out funds come pouring into Greek state coffers.

Their campaign is also a textbook case in point. It is fully based on presupposition, with mild hypnotic tendencies.
Their slogans run the gamut of "clean break with the past",  "we cleared the past"  "cleaned up" and hence, "we want to move ahead now". The presupposition is, "you know  that we have cleared with the past, it is past, behind you (don't dwell on it), put it out of your mind."
 And then the injunction, mildly hypnotic:
"(As past is gone) focus on our future, vote for us we are moving forward together."


Meanwhile, the other parties are busy trying to convince people, focusing on content, hoping people will actually listen and understand the message and then, miraculously, think and reach the right conclusion -- right for the campaigner at hand, that is.


Good luck to them!



*Greece's Syriza government, a coalition between the thwarted extreme right wing anti-europeans "Free Greeks" and the authoritarian left-wing "Syriza", made a mess of everything: talks and relations with the EU partners, threw the country into deep recession in 6 short months, helped the Athens Stock Exchange lose 77% of it s value, created an unprecedentedly fast capital flight, and imposed cpaital controls. It has also been the most spendthrift government in recent years, recruiting ~20,000 people in the civil service, raised taxes, called 2 more elections in the year, and signed yet another bailout plan with its EU partners. A dictatorship couldn't have done better!

They also lowered the standards of schools in Greece -- such as are still operating, many aren't -- because "excellence is a disease".

An Insignificant Gesture of Sad Memory

My mother died on a Sunday, 22nd March, at around 11:30 a.m. My 11 year old son was at home at the time, he was sleeping when we left to go to the hospital to see his grandmother.

My mother had suffered a stroke; she fell asleep and never woke up. That Sunday morning was her last - in this world at least.

I am not quite sure what happened when it happened, how things were taken care of, who dealt with paper work and how. I remember a doctor giving me a certificate, and then we were home.

My son, awake, came to the door, holding a small ball -- obviously he had been playing around.

I tried to put it in a roundabout way. My son would not accept what happened until he heard spelled out clearly.
Grandmother is dead.

He started crying, then all of a sudden he threw down the ball and went to the phone crying "I don't believe it".

He picked up the phone and rang his grandmother, as he always did.

Nobody answered.


This insignificantly small gesture, a desperate attempt to negate reality, has remained a vivid memory. An eleven year old yearning for some magic to make the nightmare go away.

The Greece Conundrum - Or Why Is It A Country Consciously Builds Its Desctruction -- In Two Sentences

A little over one month ago, after a bogus referendum (see below) on a non-existent issue, The  Telegraph published a monumentally titled and subtitled article:

"Greece has been taken hostage by a government disguising its incompetence as heroism

Desperate suffering awaits a people who have chosen easy lies over uncomfortable truths"

 

This says it all!

Greece's present government has, in 7 months of mind numbing posturing, idiotic experimentation, and debilitating mismanagement (and some nepotism), plunged Greece into abysmal depths of recession never before seen with such rapidity since the country's modern inception in the early 19th century. So much so, that previous Greek governments -- amongst the world's most inefficient, corrupt, and savagely self-serving -- seem not so bad after all! 

Greece has gone from: 

- a slight positive balance of payments to capital flight (83 B euro) and capital controls

- a mediocre educational system -- despite a high teacher - to - student ratio (13:1) -- to a worse educational system, by design. The education minister of Greece announced that excellence in education is a malady.

- having four relatively capitalized banks operating with chances of surviving the storm - to a banking system reduced to nothingness in one week of stock exchange operation;

- the collapse of the Athens Stock exchange

- a recession-driving new bail-out agreement

...while back at the ranch, the government and its cronies are fighting over what is the comrade-correct thing to do: sleep with the beard under the sheet or over?

If there ever has been a case of mass debilitation, this is it.

And it is contained elegantly and in sufficiency within those two lines.

I think that Greeks do not believe they deserve what they have. So they destroy it to reach the lower level of what they think they justly deserve.

It's a pity.

If they opened their eyes they may have seen that reality is unconscionably brutal about itself: it is, without shades, of grey or otherwise.

If Greeks opened their eyes they may have noticed, or some of them at least, that deserve does not come into the equation: you have what you have, and when you have it you can lose it just as well.

You cannot lose what you do not have and pride is just as much part of it as anything else.

A view from inside a pool at the top of the rock at Kaladi, isle of Kythera, Greece.

Whatever Greeks do or, more likely, choose to NOT do, they should read this short article. Better still, reading being a strain to the eye, someone should read it to them over national television and radio...

Greeks Excel In the Face of Adversity...

This is what Dr C Constantinides, founder of Healthcare cybernetics (HCC), wrote in his recent answer to a comment in the IMTJ.  Dr Constantinides is one of the world gurus n Health Tourism.

Interestingly, the commentator maintained that the crisis may have made Greece's foray in the Health Tourism sector more difficult; Dr Constantinides showed that the exact opposite is true. In so doing he relays a positive message, one which is a breath of fresh air after so much doom being aired about the country which, even if imminent, would be better left alone: if doom is at the door, let's enjoy the minutes of life now until it breaks through!

Dr Constantinides' response  is interesting but one point in particular stood out: "Greeks excel in the face of adversity".
Lately, Greeks (as represented by the Greek government) have distinguished themselves in creating adversity (rather than responding to it) so I thought to myself: would the creation of common adversity it be a national trigger to inspire creativity and love of life in Greece.

As the Gods of the Greeks and market research, both know, Greeks are amongst the least happy (or most unhappy?) of Europeans. They may have reason to be, but the point is: could a adversity be the key to a nationwide snapping-out-of-it?


Let's hope so.

I am presently in Athens, the weather is good (hot but cool in the shade), recent winds have cleared the sky of pollution, the colours are magnificent.

If adversity can help preserve this, long live adversity! And long live the Germans, the bad guys of choice in Greece at this moment who fuel this adversity!

Eurogroup marathon talks, early Monday morning, 13th July 2015: a tough, humiliating deal for Greece, says a German Newspaper (Bild) for Greece...

Is it?

The good news and the bad news. Reportedly...


No doubt, 6 years of austerity are down the drain as Greece received and spent ±240 bn euro and is still, no further or perhaps even worse off than where it started.

One reason for this apparent standstill was that austerity in the form of cuts in public investment and salary cuts in the public sector and pension cuts, as well as back-breaking increases in income tax brought about a sharp reduction in peoples' spending budget and cut out many organisations' livelihood: the Greek state. And this, in turn, brought about recession.

After 6 years of recession, and five months of an unconventional government by a populist and somewhat totalitarian party, Syriza, Greece is back in recession, and asking for a third bailout.

The pre-conditions of this bailout, should it be accepted, are reportedly tough, humiliating, and threaten to upset the status quo in Greece as Greeks know it.

How bad is it??

How humiliating?

While I don't have the actual text, reportedly it calls for a number of things.

First is the usual fruit of short-sighted governments: even higher taxation - in part in order to compensate for the Greek government's continued refusal to reduce the number of people on its payroll (it has actually added 10,000 civil servants in the 5 months of its governance).
As usual in Greece, some of the measures (e.g. VAT) will hit lower income earners more than others. Typically these are the people least likely to raise a stink, so the motto is, "slam them".

- It does however also include gradual revocation of privileges (not bad), taxation of shipowners (unlikely, unless one can convince them to contribute - which is not a bad idea as they can make a  difference!)
- It also mentions relaxation of labour law restrictions; at the onset, not bad either especially given the ±1.45 mn unemployed in Greece
- There is also mention of liberalisation of closed professions
- Reduction in bureaucracy

...and much of this enacted asap, before bailout talks begin.
Also, reforms will be secured by EU supervision.

I.e. reforms are to be guaranteed in Greece by the Greek government and an EU supervisory team...

Which makes me think of the following positive point:
a foreign "supervisor", who is to blame for everything, is the ideal justification for quick implementation of measures which go against local pressure groups and self-serving political and business oligarchs (union leaders, tycoons, etc): "not my fault, could;t do anything. I'm with you! (Until you die out, hopefully soon...)"

Taking things into our hands... and make miracle happen for someone out there.

An Englishman, Thom Feeney raised ~2 million euro in just over week in a crowd-funding campaign to help Greeks pay back the IMF tranche due last week.
The 2 million came from all over; much from the two countries least likely: Germany and the UK!


Thom said he acted because politicians are delaying on all sides, because Europeans are largely generous people and because the Greek people need help. Since those in power fail to do it, the people have to do it by themselves...

This is what "by the people for the people" mean: "I may not like your politicians (or mine) but I can distinguish between them and you. And in punishing them, I am condemning you -- I don't want that."

Feeney's last point - or the gist of it - is gaining a lot of ground lately. Either that or I am seeing things.

Let's for a moment, assume that it is; what could it mean?

For one, politicians are seen as slow, indecisive, and ineffective. And, more importantly that people can step in. Effectively, bypass politicians and do it yourself.

This is a major change: until now we have people demonstrating in order to draw politicians' attention to their will. Politicians oblige by ignoring everyone until time is ripe for elections; and the sage continued.

Maybe the role of politicians has to change; in many countries politicians are proving poor in addressing everyday problems. They often are less than efficient in the grand scheme of things as well...

Maybe it is the power of the internet in weaving the global community.

I think it is certain that people have come to realise that many of today's politicians fall short as exponents of collective feeling, preferences, and choices.
Politicians' egos play a major role in any negotiating game - sidelining the content of the discussion.

Further, let's think of what our average (european) politician often is: a communicative person - sales rep profile - with a proven background in social speaking or union activism or political involvement as a student. The party then chooses him her to play a leading role - i.e. promotes that person to sales director or CEO position. Then campaign managers and image makers hone the ex sales rep into a product that can sell to the voters.

In other words, the primary skills set required of a politicians is his her capacity to get elected. Then, of course, comes persuasiveness. And then, I presume, comes discipline: i.e. to tow the party line.

None of the above is bad per se and some politicians probably do not fit the stereotype either; but most do. Case in point: in Greece the PM told people that voting "no" to a referendum is equivalent to voting for democracy, voting no to oppression, for self-respect etc. This guideline had nothing to do with the official content of that referendum, but that did not stop politicians from supporting it or criticising it, accordingly. While this is an extreme example of demagogy, similar examples of context and content shifting and communication exploitation  exist elsewhere as well:  just not as exacerbated nor as extreme.


So in the face of this why not do as Thom did: bypass politicians rather than confront them.


It is great to take initiative rather than expect it from others and it is good to have people collectively agree and act together.
The word together gives hope to everyone: I am not alone, I can help another I can make a miracle happen for someone else.

Greece's Referendum: the David Syndrome

Reading about reactions to the results of the (sham) referendum in Greece, I asked myself why is it that Greeks voted the way they did?

I don't mean to pay more than lip service to the political declarations bandied about -- but the real why. Maybe it would be one of the political pronouncements, maybe not. It wasn't.

Thoughts led me to an astounding "aha" moment: in a reductionist, I concur, view of the affair I realise that a large section of the population is in David psychology. That that sizeable section of the population sees the country as a valiant, developing nation and not as what Greece really is: a wealthy country (not so much due to the crisis) part of the EU, member of the eurozone.

The present Greek government feeds this view; maybe its members believe it or maybe they are suffering under the weight of a massive inferiority complex. The fatc of the matter is that Greece is a member of the rich mens' club, and its present government and many of its voters interpret their discontent as the need to assert their existence. Which is not in doubt. This is akin to the thwarted adolescent, looking for his or her path in life...

The signs are there: the need to assert, to say no, to "dare", to "challenge" the "bullies" who are oppressing us", i.e. not sucking up to us or openly saying "I love you".


There are no bullies, so to speak. Greece is a country that belongs to the rich mens' club and, despite all the recession and the austerity, its civil servants are all still there (unlike, say, Romania) and still earn more than they did 15 years ago; it may not be much but it is something.

No, the bullies are inside us.

Let's hope the euro-partners catch on to this, fast.

Greece Referendum: Defiance Aside, What's Next?

Nothing, it would seem.

Greek were asked to vote yes or no to a 47 page document in English, unavailable within the country (and mostly incomprehensible). It was an expired bailout proposal from the Eurogroup. The country's government extolled voters to choose "no" to "oppression" and humiliation and for prosperity, growth, and dignity.

So, people voted NO to regain their dignity, and spearhead growth, prosperity, etc. Except that growth, etc begins with money, apparently, and in Greece's case, other people's money. The lenders would be the EU this time round.

The country's PM, A Tsipras declared on Friday that a "NO" vote leads to an agreement in 48 hrs. The finance minister Y Varoufakis also explained that a deal with the ECB is a simple matter, "can even be conducted via teleconference".

If Greeks have the short memory the ruling party attributes to them, then all is OK. Come Wednesday and still in after glow of defiance, they won't really remember what politicians promised one week before.
If not -- or if someone reminds them (unlikely) -- then the Greek government may have a problem.

While one side (Eurogroup) is expecting initiative from the other side, the other side (Greek government) is basically expecting a move from the other side, just to drive home that Greece now has the upper hand (as promised).

Greece's finance minister (or negotiations minister) Yiannis Varoufakis resigned on Monday morning - reportedly. One never knows, he may un-resign later in the day.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Greek government is purportedly preparing to issue IOU which it will use to pay off its internal creditors.

If it does that, it will be blamed on the Eurogroup.

And yet: Greece's best friends at this moment are its euro-partners. The same people its government has criticised , vilified, and at times, abused.

The Biggest Liability to the Viability of the Greek Economy

The present PM of Greece, A Tsipras, sent a letter to the Eurogroup today asking for a new loan facility from the ECB.

In this letter, Tsipras assures all recipients that the Republic (presumably, the Hellenic Republic) is "...fully committed to service its debt in a manner that ensures the viability of the Greek economy, growth and social cohesion".

Words, and playing with words, as usual.

What he is saying is "I will pay you -- unless of course I see that my growth suffers, or that maybe the viability of the economy suffers (how did it get into this mess in the first place?) or the social cohesion in the country dictates: no repayment ". But don't worry, you're there somewhere in the lower priorities.



The biggest liability to the Greek economy's viability is Mr Tsipras himself. Were he to remove himself and his cronies from power, things would, magically, improve.

The letter: please give me money. If things go right, I might pay you back -- unless, that is...

The Adolescent In Need of Therapy -- Greece's Government Yet Again Blames the Scapegoat

The problem is not with the scapegoat, it is that people listen.



Greece seems to be suffering in the throes of misinformation -- or at least conflicting information. There seems to be a difference between what is happening, what is reported locally and what is understood as happening: it is "the European partners" who are imposing austerity measures (the Greek government proposed the measures) there was an ultimatum (there was none), etc. There are planty of examples of confusing and conflicting information.
With 50% of Greeks only loosely connected to the Net and only an estimated 17% receiving news on-line, it should come as no surprise that confusion is rampant.

Now Greeks are called to vote in a referendum without clarifying the subject of said referendum.

It is loosely referred to as "a resounding no to oppressors" (i.e. down with school, down with teachers!) by sympathisers and "grexit" by the others. Early on Sunday the idea was put forth that it is a referendum on the proposed plan by the Greek government (?). This is 47 pages long and largely incomprehensible.

It is uncanny to ask individuals to vote on a question-mark or on 47 pages of fiscal text (badly written) and unconstitutional in Greece to do so -- but the latter is the least of the Greek government's bother. Constitutionality does not seem to be high on their agenda.


The referendum is essentially bogus and simply an ultimate means of putting pressure on the Eurogroup members.

Of course, it is presented to the public as "confound the oppressors" -- a bit like this sounds like the cry of an emotionally challenged adolescent, revolting against parental authority. And while this may be adequate explanation, it is no comfort: most Greeks do not understand what is going on and the easiest solution is the one that hits home first:
we are trying but it's the other peoples' fault - the Europeans do not want us.


What Greece seems to lack is awareness of itself and responsibility to tackle the situation, one problem at a time.


Greeks are also notoriously misinformed:



Or, Greece's government is simply enjoying the fun: campaigning for "money for nothing and the chicks for free". If it works, it works. If not, who cares, they'll move to Australia -- or buy out the land with their Euros stored in foreign banks in foreign lands.

The ATM in the Greek House of Parliament on Saturday: MP queueing up to draw cash asap!

Understanding Greeks: What is Going On-2 (The Enemy That Lurks On the Outside.)

To a large extent, the comfort for many Greeks contains a scapegoat; now it is the Eurogroup and the Germans.

In years past it was the Americans. Generally speaking. Any demonstration -- many of which took place as a matter of course or tradition, a commuters-annoying fiesta if you will -- would end up at the American embassy.

Of course Greek politicians, probably Europe's most corrupt and ineffectual, need "bad guys" to explain away the dismal situation of their country and its abysmal financial state.


What is the situation at this moment:

1) Greece's government is misinforming the country as to what is going on in the negotiations, trying to support the "bad guys" concept and putting forth the notion that its the bad guys who are imposing austerity that the Greek government is resisting.

2) Some Greeks, (4.5/10) who voted for this fascist - left wing coalition government insist on burying their heads in the ground and looking elsewhere when reality is staring them in the face; they voted for a magic wand that would make everything OK (syriza) and they could start consuming again.

3) The media are between two stools about stating the obvious and reporting reality: they fear
a) a drop in their viewer ratings(because people do not want to be troubled by the truth -- which they know intuitively anyway. Greeks want to shy from the truth.)
b) be labelled the unpatriotic propagandists of foreign powers

4) So, by and large, a large slice of the Greek voting population remains unaware of what is really going on.


Despite all, a demonstration last week labelled gathered thousands "We are European"


So, what is really going on?


AFAI understand:
The lenders have decided to take a hard stance as regards cost cutting by insisting on a positive current account balance. 

This means that the Greek government must either raise its income with increased new taxation (ref, talks about vat, etc) OR reduce spending. The latter is preferable for the future.

The lenders have accepted that the debt (approaching 450bill euro) is not sustainable. It will probably be restructured in the form of a write-off quietly sometime in the future. 


(Greece produces little value adding and the state bureaucracy and the public service agencies inertia  doe not allow for much initiative and change. Spectacular growth figures for the future, needed to service this debt, are not on the visible agenda.)


For the write-off to take place, Greece has to step into the path of sustainable growth. 
I.e. two things have to happen to the satisfaction of lenders (and, largely, to the good of the country): 1) Greece has to show it will not run a similar debt yet again 2) make reforms that testify to its pursuit of more competitive path as a country and ones that will bring it into the 21st century (free investments, allow excellence in education, allow efficiency in medical care, reform closed professions, reduce the abysmally reactionary and huge public sector, maybe even contain corruption).


The present Greek government does not want to reduce its spending because it is afraid of losing its voters. Also, in order to win the elections it promised to do away with austerity - in other words, to give away money. It is also supportive of the civil service and hostile to investment, so it is unsure of how to promote "growth". 

Greek Government organised rallies in favour of the government's efforts are organised in Athens in an effort to give evidence of support and sway European leaders and public opinion.

 
And this is the gist of it. As it trickles down to the negotiations saga:

whenever lenders say, "reduce spending",

the Greek government quietly says:
"how about we agree on implementing equivalent, income-increasing measures? Like say, increase VAT?"

The lenders / Eurogroup probably answers:
"that's not a good idea, that would hit a critical industry, hospitality. Also, increasing vat on drugs would affect the weakest...".

The Greek government comes back home and declares publicly:
"the lenders wish to impose high VAT on us. They are inhuman!"


And the saga lives on


Close to 70% of Greek state spending goes to civil servants' salaries and pensions (early pensions make up 45% of the budget for pension; about 30% of this in the form of subsidies to state owned corporations' special retirement benefits (chiefly PPC & Hellenic Telecom).


The Greek government does not want to reduce spending

Greece Debt Negotiations: What is Going On (the truth)?

The Greek government has stated that it prefers to pay civil servants' salaries rather than pay creditors and avoid bankruptcy.

So, for the sake of 1.4 million (purported) cronies, the Greek government is ready to sacrifice the livelihood of the country's remaining 9 million!!!

This cannot be the opinion of most inhabitants, for sure.

Misinformed they may be-- either by the state controlled propaganda or the misguidance of people who are there to inform the public at large.

A friend said yesterday that the Greek government has yet to submit a valid proposal -- i.e. one that supports the weakest in the country, faces the crisis, contains cost-cutting measures and puts forth growth prospects. This is what the Europartners expect.

Instead, the Greek government's net contribution to the Eurogroup up to now has been to propose tax raises and to oppose, rather than propose: the counter anything and everything that is put on the table. So, the initiative is generally in non-Greek hands, hence (probably) the mailaise and incomprehension of Greece's Europartners.

I received the letter below and am reproducing it as is.

"""As an EU citizen with a family living in Greece, I am one of many inhabitants of the country dismayed by the nature of the negotiations between the Eurogroup and the Greek government – and fearful of the consequences of a misdeal. 

This is a very concerned citizen’s viewpoint.

The humanitarian crisis in Greece is real and real people are suffering. But these people are largely ignored - despite the best efforts of the Euro-Partners so far.

The Greek government argues that there is humanitarian crisis and claims flexibility in negotiations as long as there is a "fair deal". The government says it draws the line on touching "salaries and pensions" and on maintaining past labour law reform.

Salaries and pensions:

* "Salaries" can only refer to the Public Sector i.e., the Greek state payroll. In other words the Greek government's humanitarian concern for not reducing salaries refers to 800,000 - 1,176,000 persons (it is still unclear how many persons are directly & indirectly on the public payroll in Greece). It would seem that the Greek government is prepared to sacrifice a deal with lenders to protect the income of civil servants in the country.

* Salaries in Greece in the period 1997 - 2014 are still up by 7% comparing the two dates (eurostat). So, at least, civil servants, all of whom are still employed, are better off than their unemployed private sector brethren, even after the reductions imposed on their income in 2012-2013;

*Labour law in Greece is restrictive both in flexibility to employment and to redundancies, as well as to temporary placement.
The Greek government proposes to oppose or cancel reforms that have already been implemented, even though these reforms may help make recruitment & job creation easier and more attractive.

The “humanitarian crisis” in Greece:

* Pensions:
We have 4.5 mill pensioners in Greece, 1% are under the age of 25. The highest cost belongs to the 56-65 age brackets. Presently, 51% of new pensioners are in the age bracket 55-61 (Hellenic Stat Service). The monthly median pension is € ~900 and many pensioners who have contributed for decades are now supported by their families.
If further cost-cutting needs to be implemented it could be done selectively rather than across the board: in Greece the catalogues are up to date, so groups enjoying special benefits at the expense of others, or are employable, can be identified.

* Greece does not have a guaranteed minimum income (i.e., allocation universelle or revenue minimum); so, unless privately supported, if you are poor in Greece you will die.
A guaranteed minimum income is not included in the Greek government's humanitarian pursuits.

* Unemployment is ~26%, or close to 1.4 mill persons (Ministry of Labour 1/2015), mostly long-term unemployed. Benefits are only allowed for 12 months. Hence, only around ~10% of unemployed in Greece receive unemployment benefits (figures for 10/2014). The standard monthly unemployment benefit is € 360 and reaches € 540 for families with 5 children.
The nation's unemployed and their survival are not mentioned by the Greek government and do not seem to concern its members.

* Worse: medical cover is unavailable to the unemployed after 24 months. How people survive and their families cope thereafter is anyone's guess. Suffice it to note that children are insured under the parents’ benefits; without the parents insurance, children are uninsured as well.
Helping the unemployed is not part of the Greek government's humanitarian concerns either.

Overall, there is a crisis and there are people who hope for a solution but do not know where it will come from. Many do not know what is going on and when they search for a reason why there is no progress, they are told "it's the others' fault, the IMF, etc." They are assured that, "the government is doing its best to protect the citizens".  Probably, the people who are charged to inform the public are misinformed as well. 

Overall, in its five months in power the current Greek government has reinstated ~2300 civil servants who had been made redundant by the previous government and lowered the standards in secondary education. Nothing else.

The combination of lack of reliable information, misunderstanding, crisis, and the strange attitude of the country's government, spells catastrophe. """

Thus ends the letter. Hopefully not the country.

Be Introspective, then Reflective and then Understand...

In one of the motivational posters I read "you are not where you come from, you are where you're going to...".

Which, snazzy though it may be, raises a fundamental question: do I know where I am going to?

One may argue, of course, that NOT knowing is, in and of itself, a kind of direction to whit, the pursuit of direction.

I wonder how many of us actually do know where they are going -- or do we simply settle for a vague idea, based on what we have around us.

Do we want to know everything about the future?


Or, maybe, "where we are going to" is the journey to know oneself.

If so, all it takes is to reflect upon oneself, to discover, see, accept and move on. The more we know ourselves, the more we know where we are going to? Or, the more we know ourselves, the less important is the goal of defining a specific destination...

Which European Country Has No Guaranteed Minimum Income?

You guessed it: Greece.

Despite the endless (& reckless) spending, Greece's governments have ignored the issue -- nay, Greece's present "left-wing humanistic" government has swepted it off the table.

Indeed, Greece's Syriza party politicians effectively placed the matter in the circular file; for good, they hope.

GREECE'S GOVERNMENT VIEW OF THE COUNTRY'S POOR & UNEMPLOYED

A minister called Fotiou, even went so far as to call it "a poverty trap".
Indeed.

Ms Fotiou she does not need the aid, obviously; with a purported monthly income of EUR ~12k to spend, falling into the "minimum income" for her is a giant step backwards.

For a party that uses "humanistic crisis" as an argument in favour of "money for nothing" in its dealings with the troika (reps of Greece's lenders), it could be astonishing.

It ceases to astonish when one realises that the present party not only could not care less about Greece's poor, it also visibly doesn't bother with the future starving population: long-term unemployed,self-employed out of jobs, etc.


In this light, the fact that 25% of Greece's unemployed also do not have any medical cover probably makes the present ruling party members rejoice.

Paradoxical Collective Behaviour of Greeks Today -- or Why My Dutch Friend Was Wrong

...He rarely is.
Also he is most polite and reserved and rarely judgemental.


What are three strange traits that may confuse us if we travel or live in Greece today.

I don't mean, voting a not-so-complimentary-for-the-country, party to power (rude with a predilection of doing anything that goes against the grain -- any grain, to the extent of proposing to free from prison  a serial killer, for "humanitarian reasons" etc)


A) being rude = being assertive



B) being antisocial & unhelpful = being free
Example: a bunch of trouble-makers are allowed to demonstrate to the detriment of the community, block the highway, or forbid entry to cruise-ships; the community, the country as a whole suffers. Likewise,

C) being polite to a stranger = servility


What else can one say other than, offer Greece group therapy and send them the bill  (because psychoanalysis needs commitment).

Sullen, Disgruntled and Resentful

... is how a Dutch person living in Greece described the country's ruling party's so called "extreme left-wing" politicians.

Like typical bullies,indignant because they have not had their way; "just imagine" he said, "imagine you give the bullies the power and the responsibilities of the school principal"! This is surely how they wil behave."

He proffered the example of  the minister for education who publicly stated that the pursuit of excellence (and progress) is a sickness. Again, in the same ministry, the minister appointed new regional educational supervisors, all from the party (syriza). Other ministers declare "... we will tear Europe to bits..." and "jihad is not to be excluded if they (european partners) do not do what we want...".

If this is really the case, and Greece's ruling people are a pack of disgruntled, self-serving bullies,  Greece is in urgent need of a few very dynamic parents who can bring these bullies to order.

Or the will sink the ship further, beyond salvation.

The Rule of Equality and the Iniquity of Identity

Identity in its archetypal meaning of identical.

When the US constitution famously declared "all men are created equal" it did not mean that all people are identical socially, economically, and on terms of skills, capabilities, and so on.

When Pericles mentioned in his funeral oration mentioned that the laws afford equal justice to all and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that, "all are equal before the law and are entitled to (...) equal protection of the law, both did mean that before the law, all should be seen as being identical:

i.e., being entitled to identical protection under the law as well as impartiality rather than a double standard.

So, basically, we are saying that "we all have a right to the better deal, if that deal is a legal deal under applicable law" and "if that is the deal I want to be entitled to that deal, no less"



IF, however, by equality we mean identity, we run the risk of giving birth to a travesty of the fundamental rule that "all are created equal". It "all are identical".

Differences between individuals, where they do exist, should not be taken into account when individuals are under consideration. All must be seen as "identical".


If all are taken to be identical, then no-one should recognised as being "better" or "worse" than another in any capacity. Accordingly, selection made to pre-set criteria is a distortion of equality and should be abolished.

Take productivity for example; if criteria are to be abolished the measure of productivity is insignificant.


Take the performance criterion, for another example; since we do not accept that individuals are inherently different, differences in performance should not be considered. The much touted "pursuit of excellence" is admonished.

In extremis, it would seem that if we were to expect identical performance from all, then the lowest common denominator, i.e. the lowest standard, should be the inevitable goal: the performance level shared by all human beings is indubitably the lowest level.



Fortunately, the confusion of equality=identity is not implemented in any country for any number of reasons, all fortunate. Were it not so, it would lead to absurdity and inhumanity of epic proportions and this absurdity is understood.
However, the confusion of equality=identity still does inspire tragic results even today, even in our western, meritocratic societies.


In one European country recently, the ministry of education abolished experimental schools operating under a student selection and performance scheme, arguing that such practise (the pursuit of performance) promoted inequality between student and was thereby oppressive and unacceptable. In other words and in the name of equality, the institution protecting and promoting the country's standard of  education, lowered the standard of learning the in the country!


Presumably, all applicants to the country's institutions should be allowed in and all students should be allowed to graduate. Pushing it further, all students should graduate with the same grade. Official recognition of differences between the students (i.e,. grades, not graduating, etc) would be a sign of condoning inequality. No doubt, all students should also get the same mark as the best performing student -- or as the least performing student, if we do not wish to make the lowest performer feel left out...



Meritocracy becomes the rule of the lowest standard.

This is not the place not time to discuss the advantages or otherwise of the former. But we can certainly all agree to lament the latter.

Or can we??





*In teh mid 70s, in another European country then part of the Soviet bloc, 6 naval engineers were applying for a job at the Ministry of Labour.  They were duly affected to "copying duties" at the Ministry of Justice (i.e. preparing photocopies for the various departments). There were numerous positions at the Ministry of Transport and Industry as well, but the educational background was not deemed binding (inequality) and the timing was not quite there.... the positions at the other Ministries were to open after summer holidays. Hey, at least they had jobs, for a while...

What Greece Should Do (for temporary relief); What Greeks Should Do For Repeated Relief

What Greece's government should do at present is pay sums to the IM, discuss with its Europartners the possibility of one-off supportto ease the strain of repayments, and DELAY payments internally. Or,, better still, it can dupe its electorate by paying its debts partly in euro and (mostly) in 10-100 year non-convertible Greek Government bonds.

In this way, the following will be achieved:
- ease the debt repayment considerably, as the IMF is the most expensive money. TYhe rest of the money Greece has received can reach an average below 2% -- which is better than some countries get on the free market!
- confirm its good intentions and give an olive branch to the country's justly exasperated europartners.
- provide an excellent excuse to forget all the moronic, and potentially disastrous for the nation as a whole, pre-electoral promises: "not my fault, had to save the sinking ship. But I tried, which is more than others did"

The last sentence being the crux of the matter. I.e. manage to stay in power which is the government's unique concern, and do something for the country while you're at it.


Not that Greek governments are ostensibly interested in the country they lead; the present government speaks of "workers rights", "people in crisis", of "equality", of "excellence being a form of fascist oppression"-- but never about Greece, the nation, the country.

-------
On the other hand, given that most Greek governments have shown a predilection for absurdity and for iniquity and giving support to pressure group at the expense of the majority of the population, Greeks should resort to using shame and guilt to inspire positive action and social reform from their government. After all, Greece's labour legislation, antiquated, inflexible and job creation averse only began to be reviewed when a Greek politician (A Mrs Diamantopoulou) was made fun ofin European parliament when she rose to speak about labour issues, representing a country with the most lacking legislation on the subject...

What's Wrong With These People?

Greece and its government seem to espouse a kind of "left-wing" lax-ism which is unique in that it is the glorification of absurdity :

a love for the loser & the criminal seen as the underdog (losers, criminals & sundry are checked for the reasons underpinning & thereby their deviance and thereby absolving their crimes???!!); veneration of the lowest standard and meritocracy is vilified ("leading", higher calibre schools have been abolished); the rule of law is subordinate to the interests of pressure groups (civil servants pay less tax, PPC employees get different pay levels, etc, etc); the "interests of the workers" primes over other considerations according to the government -- even if there are very few blue collar workers in Greece (12% of work / unemployed force); foreign investment is pursued verbally but private operation is discouraged (restrictive labour law and operating licensing, high fines and expensive social security, many unexpected "nuisance taxes", etc; planned investments by Siemens, Benz, TVX Gold, wind energy group, etc, were initially or definitively repelled: "we don't want investment");

And, at the end of the day, "politically correct" in a country that officially endorses extremist left-wing while condemning extremist right wing (such as the Golden Dawn party -- which, btw is the runner up in recent elections) and teaming up with a right wing naysayer, a country which disallows business but does not touch civil servants found guilty of criminal neglect or appropriation of funds... etc etc means, simply:
*anyone can run for elections (if they pay of course), extremist, terrorist, psychopath and sundry and get elected;
*any absurdity goes, especially if the absurdity goes against common practise.



It is amazing that a right-left wing coalition of thwarted adolescents continues to hoodwink the population -- or at least 60% who did not vote for them with myths about conspiracy to overthrow the government, coups planned by bankers, dark secrets etc. A minister who visibly spends his time travelling and speaking and drinking; another who frees a terrorist sentenced with a life sentence "for humanitarian reasons" (how about the victims' humanitarian rights) and because he is no longer a threat because he is near-blind (so is another minister; we assume that the minister is near-useless in his position as well); yet another who abolishes selection criteria in academia because that promotes inequality...

Amazingly,  amongst the majority are parties composed of normal people such as the Potami (river; where did they find that name?)

Hopefully one day soon, 60% of Greeks who did not vote for the present government will snap out of their comma and realise the ridicule before the global community turns away in disgust.

The Greek Government's Humanitarianism -- hopefully not criminal.

Whether Greece's government officials have a point in what they have been doing lately (opening the borders to rogue immigration without any plan to contain & support the people, demanding for a bail-out plan with any plan, sinking the economy further just to see how low it can reach...) or they just feel like being contrarian, the disctinction no longer seem relevant.

Now, Greece's government came up with a new law that frees criminals for humanistic reasons.In so doing, Greece's government is freeing among other, killers, terrorists, murderers and sundry. One of these is a murderer with terrorist inclinations --basically a serial killer-- called Xiros who has been found guilty of a number of murders.


Interestingly, this very "humanistic' law thinks of the perpetrator; the victims seem to have dropped off the equation. No-one mentions these; "victims -- what's that" some of Greece's current ruling politicians seem to be saying? After all, does a victim vote? No. So, forget the victims.


It puts out a clear message for all to see: go right ahead killing, and if you're caught roll over and play sick. At the end of a decade or so, you'll be out. (Hey it's better than nothing!)



When the son of one of Xiros' victims asked why the government was liberating his father's murderer the government official (a woman) responded "well, you (i.e. the political party his father belonged-obviously not hers) are responsible for other..."

????!!!!



The sheer disrespect & cynicism boggles the mind!
Even Hitler had not come up such a ! Maybe Stalin had, I'm not sure. With one sweep of her broom, the woman judged past events as criminal, chose the perpetrator in an eye-blink, and set the vendetta without blinking! One crime deserves the other and your father was a criminal????
And justifies the killing of others.
Is this her take on the hollywood goldie "You kill one of ours we kill two of yours..."? If so, is the criminal "one of theirs"???

But then, Hitler didn't actually have many terrorists who killed diplomats, politicians and a few business for the fun of it -- does that explain it???



But really, what a thing to say !


Possibly Greece's government officials either live in another dimension. Or this woman does.

Hopefully the latter.

Small Cash-Flow Problem... Brother, can you spare a dime?

Nothing the Germans cannot handle -- or anyone else, for that matter; the Greek government aren't choosers... Loans are welcome from all sides.

Hellenic Republic
The Prime Minister
 15 March 2015

To the Chancellor of the Federal

Republic of Germany, Mrs Angela Merkel

Dear Chancellor,

I am writing to you to express my deep concern about developments since the 20th February 2015 Eurogroup agreement, which was preceded two days earlier by a letter from our Minister of Finance outlining a number of issues that the Eurogroup ought to resolve; issues which I consider to be important, including the need:

(a)     To agree the mutually acceptable financial and administrative terms the implementation of which, in collaboration with the institutions, will stabilise Greece's fiscal position, attain appropriate primary fiscal surpluses, guarantee debt stability and assist in the attainment of fiscal targets for 2015 that take into account the present economic situation.

(b)    To allow the European Central Bank to re-introduce the waiver in accordance with its procedures and regulations.

(c)   To commence work between the technical teams on a possible new Contract for Recovery and Development that the Greek authorities envisage between Greece, Europe and the International Monetary Fund, to follow the current Agreement

(d)    To discuss means of enacting the November 2012 Eurogroup decision regarding possible further debt measures and assistance for implementation after the completion of the extended Agreement and as part of the follow-up Contract.

Based on the in-principle acceptance of this letter and its content, the President of the Eurogroup convened the 20th February meeting which reached a unanimous decision expressed in a communique. The latter constitutes a new framework for the relationship between Greece, its partners, and the institutions.

More precisely, the 20th February Eurogroup agreement stipulated a number of points outlining this new framework and process, including:

(a)   The Greek authorities will present a first list of reform measures, based on the current arrangement, by the end of Monday February 23. The institutions will provide a first view whether this is sufficiently comprehensive to be a valid starting point for a successful conclusion of the review. This list will be further specified and then agreed with the institutions by the end of April.

(b)   The Greek authorities have expressed their strong commitment to a broader and deeper structural reform process aimed at durably improving growth and employment prospects, ensuring stability and resilience of the financial sector and enhancing social fairness. The authorities commit to implementing long overdue reforms to tackle corruption and tax evasion, and improving the efficiency of the public sector. In this context, the Greek authorities undertake to make best use of the continued provision of technical assistance.

(c)   We remain committed to provide adequate support to Greece until it has regained full market access as long as it honours its commitments within the agreed framework.

Based on this common ground, the Minister of Finance sent to the President of the Eurogroup a letter, dated 23^th February 2015, with the aforementioned "first list of reforms" [see (a) above] proposed by our government. On 24^th February 2015 the said "first list" was accepted by the institutions as "sufficiently comprehensive to be a valid starting point for a successful conclusion of the review" by 20^th April 2015.

In order to expedite the process, the Ministry of Finance sent a letter to the President of the Eurogroup on 5^rd March 2015 urging that the process of technical discussions on specifying further the "first list of reforms" begin immediately. In the same letter the Minister of Finance attached seven examples of how the reforms in the "first list" could be developed and specified further.

Following a positive reply by the President of the Eurogroup (dated 6^1h March 2015) and the subsequent Eurogroup meeting of 9^th March 2015, the first round of discussions of the Brussels Group  (comprising of the four institutions — EC-ECB-ESM­IMF — plus the technical team of the Greek government) took place, in Brussels, on Wednesday 11^th March dealing with both political and technical issues. At that meeting it was also decided that technical teams of the institutions would travel to Athens on the following day for on-site fact-finding to assist the Brussels Group negotiations.

In the context of the above, I feel it is critical to alert you to a number of developments which are either undermining the spirit of the agreements reached or making their fulfillment perilously difficult.

a) On 4^th February 2015 the European Central Bank lifted the waiver for minimum credit rating requirements for marketable instruments issued or guaranteed by the Hellenic Republic, while declaring that the waiver would be restored when an agreement was reached at the level of the Eurogroup. Moreover, even since the Greek banks were referred to the Bank of Greece's ELA facility, the ECB has been raising the ELA's ceiling at shorter intervals than normal and at rather small increments that incite speculation and spread uncertainty vis-à-vis Greece's banking system. Additionally, the ECB determined that Greek banks cannot hold more T-bills than they did on 18^th February 2015, thus restricting their participation to well below the T-bill cap. (Please note that, in the summer of 2012, when a new Athens government was in a similar situation to ours. ELA was being expanded generously, the T-bill issuance cap was lifted to allow the government to finance its debt repayments to our creditors, and banks were not restricted to any limit corresponding to a prior date's holdings. In that manner the government of the time and the Eurogroup were granted sufficient 'space' to reach an arrangement that allowed the Greek banks to move away from ELA and back to normal ECB financing methods.)

b) Following past failures (of the previous government) to complete the scheduled reviews, disbursements under the loan agreements with the ESM-EFSF were discontinued (while those of the IMF were similarly delayed), yielding a substantial financing gap in 2014 and 2015. This includes the profits from the ECB's SMP-sourced bond redemptions, which the ECB distributes to member states on the understanding that they be passed onto the Greek government.

Given that Greece has no access to money markets, and also in view of the 'spikes' in our debt repayment obligations during the Spring and Summer of 2015 (primarily to the IMF), it ought to be clear that the ECB's special restrictions [see (a) above] when combined with the disbursement delays [see (b) above] would make it impossible for any government to service its debt obligations. Servicing these repayments through internal resources alone would, indeed, lead to a sharp deterioration in the already depressed Greek social economy — a prospect that I will not countenance.

Meanwhile, I also regret to report that little progress has been made in the negotiations between the technical teams in Brussels and in Athens. The reason for the extremely slow progress is that the institutions' technical teams, as well as some of the actors at a higher level, seem to show little regard for the 20^th February Eurogroup agreement and are, instead, committed to proceeding along the lines of the Memorandum of Understanding that pre-dates both the 20^th February agreement and 25^th January 2015 — the date on which the Greek people elected a new government with a mandate to negotiating the new process established by the 20^th February Eurogroup agreement. It is difficult to believe that our partners consider that a successful reform drive can be carried out under such restrictive and pressing constraints, including the financial squeeze that my government is currently labouring under .

The Greek government remains steadfast in its commitment to fulfill its obligations
to its partners within the framework of the 18th February letter and 20^th February

Eurogroup decision. However, I am also obliged to make clear to you that, in order to continue to fulfill our obligations, as we have done up till now, progress has to be made on a number of fronts:

(a)   After the 20^th February Eurogroup agreement and the approval of the extension of the MFAFA by member states, and given that the technical discussions with the institutions are under way, the ECB should return the terms of finance of the Greek banks to their pre-4^th February 2015 state.

(b)   The process by which the reforms proposed by the Greek government, and their evaluation, must be immediately clarified so as to make a successful conclusion of the review by end of April 2015, as well as to specify the recommencement of disbursements with th e progress of the negotiations.

(c)   The process must be specified (as well as the participants and the timetable) by which further arrangements (which my government would like to take the form of a 'Contract for Greece's Recovery and Development' — including provisions on Greece's public debt in the spirit of the November 2012 Eurogroup agreement) will be agreed to before the end of June 2015.

In conclusion, Greece is committed to fulfilling its obligations in good faith and close cooperation with its partners. To this purpose we are committed fully to the process specified in the 20^th February Eurogroup agreement so as to begin immediately the work of implementing reforms crucial to our economy's prospects of long term development within an inclusive Europe. With this letter I am urging you not to allow a small cash flow issue, and a certain 'institutional inertia', to not turn into a large problem for Greece and for Europe.

Alex Tsipras

In other words, "sister can you spare a dime"?

Or two?